


Head Over Converse

by GrimsleyGames



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-15 07:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 83,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8047666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimsleyGames/pseuds/GrimsleyGames
Summary: When Ymir, an oblivious nerd addicted to on-line gaming, falls asleep in class, she's awoken by Krista Lenz, an upperclassman singlehandedly responsible for turning her into a babbling idiot. She never expected the blonde would begin to notice her, couldn't fathom she'd show an interest in her geeky obsessions, and never would have thought she'd be so darn pervy. High school AU





	1. Princess Leah

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, I'm Grimsley  
> So, I originally posted this story on FanFiction, but at the urging of Le Girlfriend decided to post it here as well. I hope you all enjoy it.  
> Also, if you'd like, feel free to check out, follow, or ask me whatever questions you may have on Tumblr. Just search for GrimsleyGames.

**Chapter 1: Princess Leah**

            To say Ymir was a dating savant wouldn't exactly be the truth. In fact, to say she was the least bit suave at all would have been a flat-out, blatant lie. Her seduction skills were nil, fucking nonexistent, and would have in fact run into the negatives if at all possible. Like the weight set Armin's father bought him for his last birthday, Ymir's dating life got no action, whatsoever.

            Her school bag thumped against her leg like a metronome as the freckled brunette darted across the school quad, careful not to trip over her own feet. She'd already managed to do that twice the previous week in front of the majority of the student body, and didn't think her pride could handle a third incident.

            As Ymir came to a stop at the bench at the farthest corner of the quad, she tried to catch her breath. She was met by four familiar faces, three of which were scowling. The fourth was grinning despite the piece of bread hanging out of her mouth, which wasn't exactly an uncommon sight.

            "Pay up, mother suckers." Sasha, her brunette friend who nursed an unhealthy food obsession, began accepting crisp dollar bills from her complaining comrades.

            "I really thought she was gonna eat pavement this time," Eren grumbled. He glared at Ymir as his money disappeared from his hand. "Of all days for you to not face-plant. Now I'm out five bucks."

            "Serves you right for betting against me," Ymir mused.

            "In our defense," Armin, the gangly blond sitting next to Eren interjected, "your past relationship with falling flat on your face would have lead anyone to the same conclusion."

            Ymir's final friend, Mikasa, remained silent. Talking would've most likely been pointless for the raven-haired girl. The red scarf she always wore tightly around her neck and mouth made anything she said difficult to understand, but Ymir and Sasha were starting to get the hang of it. It was kinda like trying to understand the incomprehensible gibberish Sasha spouted out when attempting to talk with her mouth stuffed with food.

            "I need new friends. It's time to trade you guys in. Next time I'll go with ones that aren't traitorous bastards." Ymir sat at the bench next to her ravenous friend and across from the two boys.

            "I didn't betray you," Sasha declared. "I believed in you until the bitter end, and that's saying a lot, considering how grace-impaired you tend to be."

            "Screw you." Ymir was not amused. To accent how fucking unamused she was, she pulled out a breakfast bar from her back pocket and began eating it in front of the other brunette, who watched in horror as it slowly disappeared.

            "Why were you running anyways?" Eren seemed more interested in throwing a wadded up piece of paper at Mikasa than hearing the answer to his question. Mikasa easily snatched the projectile mid-flight, and hurled it back at her brother, pegging him between the eyes.

            "I was in a hurry," Ymir replied with a loud yawn. She clasped her hands and reached her palms to the sky, stretching out her back.

            "Wake up late again?" Armin asked.

            "Yep, stayed up 'til 4 fighting titans." Her explanation was met with a round of understanding nods.

            Ymir and her friends were obsessed with "Attack on Titan." The online game had the freckled girl and her nerd friends playing as soldiers who fought massive, man-eating giants in a post-apocalyptic setting. Pretty much she got to run around and kill things from the comfort of her own room while eating brown sugar cinnamon Pop-tarts.

            They all started playing it together three years ago, after Eren came to school with a crazed look in his eye, muttering about a smiling titan that ate his virtual mother. At first Ymir thought it sounded lame, but that day they went over to her friend's house and all made accounts. Ymir got hooked. While some kids couldn't get through the day without sneaking behind the cafeteria and lighting up, Ymir's thoughts were almost constantly on the game.

            "I think we can all relate. It's just too damn addicti-," Sasha grabbed Ymir's wrist. She leaned in, her voice hushed. "We have a code seraphim at the school office. I repeat, a code seraphim at the school office."

            Before Sasha could even finish speaking, Ymir's head whipped towards the given location. The freckled nerd's eyes fell on the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen.

            Every time Ymir saw Krista was like the first time. The tiny blonde's beauty never faded, and Ymir was actually surprised to find that she looked even prettier than the day before.

            The brunette would be lying if she said the reason she was in a rush this morning was solely because she didn't want to be late to class. No, the real reason she ran all the way from home nonstop was so she wouldn't miss her morning routine. Seeing Krista while she walked to her class early in the morning just made the rest of her day better.

            "You're creeping again," Sasha warned.

            "No, I'm just appreciating the view and have good taste."

            "That's what all the creepers say."

            Krista, who was talking to the same girl Ymir usually saw her with, walked across the school's courtyard. Ymir's eyes never left her.

            Her golden hair gently bounced as she walked, and though she couldn't make out the details from so far away, Ymir knew the girl's blue eyes were sparkling in that irresistible way they tended to do. The blonde gently tucked a misbehaving lock of hair behind her ear, and Ymir couldn't help but imagine what it'd be like had she been able to do it for her.

            Even though Krista was a year older than Ymir and her friends, they were all easily taller than the tiny blonde. In fact, Ymir was fairly certain Krista was the shortest person in the entire high school. The freckled girl had no qualms with that. In fact, it was just one of the things that made Krista all the more endearing.

            Ymir stood from the bench and leaned forward, planting her palms against the table.

            "She walks in beauty, like the night

            Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

            And all that's best of dark and bright

            Meet in her aspect and her eyes," Ymir recited, entranced.

            "Okay Shakespeare." Eren rolled his eyes.

            Mikasa used a slim finger to tug her scarf down. "It's Byron."

            "Same difference," he countered. "Isn't it easier to say she has a nice ass?"

            "Don't you talk about her like that!" Ymir hissed.

            "Oh, like you weren't looking!"

            "Not with pervy eyes! I was simply admiring." Once the blonde was out of eye-sight the freckled girl sighed and slumped back down in her seat. As much as seeing her elated Ymir, watching Krista disappear from sight brought her back to the cold reality of her situation.

            "There's no need to get depressed," Sasha reassured, rubbing her friend's back. "Why don't you ask her out?"

            Ymir rolled her eyes, a cold, empty laugh escaping her lips. "There's no point. She doesn't even know I exist. Even if she did, she's way out of my league. Laughably out of my league. I'm not sure people like me even get a league. I'm like, the water boy of the dating scene. Not even that, I’m the water boy’s water boy."

            "Why? Because she's bright and happy while you’re sarcastic and mopey?" Armin asked. "Kinda like Kylo Ren would be if a storm trooper stole his favorite Vader onesie."

            "Yes, thank you, Armin. Your gentle words warm my heart. Knowing I'm a depressing, evil bitch really helps."

            "Don't listen to him," Sasha waved the boy off. "Of course she'd go out with you, you're Ymir! You're nice... occasionally, you're super smart, and you can defeat the entire "Super Mario Bros" game without using your hands."

            "Those aren't exactly selling points to a girl like Krista," Ymir tried to explain. "It's like... well, if she was Princess Leia, I'd be Chewbacca. If she was Black Widow, I'd be some random shield member who's accidentally squashed by the hulk's left ass cheek. She's the Buffy to my Xander, the Princess Peach to my Yoshi, and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch to my random generic brand that tastes suspiciously like frosted cardboard. If this was a movie, she'd be the romantic lead who like... fights mutant ninja assassins, and I'd be the derpy person in the background who pines for her and probably dies off-screen within the first five minutes."

            "Well," Mikasa sighed, unimpressed, "If you've given up on her, why're you still whining?"

            Ymir rubbed her hand against her tired eyes. She bit her lip and shrugged. "Because I just want to be her fucking Han Solo, damn it."

            Ymir continued to mope until the bell rang, then she slunk off to History class with Mikasa and Sasha. The teacher was going over a bunch of dates that she already knew, so Ymir laid her head down on her desk and closed her eyes. She sighed in pleasure, wishing she was back in bed. Within ten minutes, she managed to fall into a deep slumber. The class continued on. The only ones aware of Ymir's unconscious state were her friends.

            Once class was finished, the entire classroom was empty, save for Mikasa and the snoozing Ymir. Sasha had already managed to escape, siting an urgent need to eat between classes.

            The girl with the red scarf poked her friend a couple times and called her name. When that didn't work, she tried shaking her, but was still unsuccessful. As students for the next class began trickling in, Ymir's friend grew more impatient.

            When a familiar face walked in, a wicked smile tugged at Mikasa's lips, hidden beneath her scarf. Picking up her bag, she slipped past the newcomer and left, leaving behind a puzzled blonde wondering why there was an underclassman sleeping at her desk.

            "Ymir?"

            The brunette was so tired she could barely process the gentle touch that was rubbing her back and the warm voice beckoning her. It felt so right.

            "Hey, it's time to wake up. Are you alright?"

_Since when was Mikasa ever this gentle? Something's wrong here. Maybe she's been possessed by someone slightly less evil._

            Ymir groaned, too tired to open her eyes. The soft touch moved from her back and she felt fingers delicately glide over her hair.

            As nice as it felt, Mikasa was really starting to creep the brunette out.

            "Look, I'm too tired for kinky times right now. If you're gonna do something, don't expect me to stay awake for it."

            There was a pregnant silence for a beat, followed by a giggle... a magical, musical giggle.

_What the fuck? Mikasa Ackerman doesn't giggle._

            When Ymir's gold eyes flew open, they were met by the kind of blue eyes that made her heart flutter. She reeled back so quickly she nearly fell out of her chair.

            "Oh, believe me," Krista smirked, "you'd stay awake."

            Ymir jumped to her feet and froze in shock. The tiny blonde seemed very amused. The small smirk on her lips seemed to taunt the brunette.

            The Goddess was standing in front of her, looking at her, saying pervy things to her.

            "I, uhm, I-I have to go!" Ymir grabbed her bag from under her desk and backed out of the room, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over until she finally managed to reach the doors.

            Once out of the dreaded room, Ymir leaned back against a locker. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears and was certain she was blushing so hard the red tinge would never leave. She took a moment to calm her ragged breathing.

            She just told Krista, the Goddess, frickin' Aphrodite in human form, that she could sleep-sex her up. She groaned and buried her face in her hands, wishing the earth would just open up and swallow her, putting her out of her misery.

            _Wait, she called me Ymir. She knew my name! She... she knew my name?_

            Utterly confused and dazed, Ymir barely heard the bell go off, informing her that she was now late for English class.


	2. Pink Power Ranger

**CHAPTER 2: Pink Power Ranger**

            Ymir wouldn't exactly call herself a paranoid person. In fact, she prided herself on being fairly laid back most of the time, but ever since the whole falling asleep in history class incident, it felt like she was being watched.

            Okay, so watched may have been a strong word. She felt like she was being occasionally glanced at. Usually, she wouldn't give a fuck. The problem wasn't that someone was checking out her goods every once in a while, it was who was doing the checking.

            Krista Lenz, the hottest thing since the pink power ranger, had turned the tables.

            For the entirety of Ymir's high school career so far, she'd only had the single crush. When she found out that Krista was in not one, not two, but three classes with her this year, she decided she had to lay down some rules for herself:

            Rule 1: Staring from across the quad is okay. In fact, she was definitely not the only one doing it. Ymir would have been an idiot not to have noticed her fellow students' looks of longing and occasional whispers of, "marry me," directed at the blonde. She'd always been okay with it, considering them comrades in hopeless infatuation.

            Rule 2: The three glances rule. When in class, do not openly stare at the Goddess, especially if seated beside or in front of her. The back seats were much safer, but in order to maintain her air of I'm-not-hopelessly-crushing-on-you, Ymir had to remain constantly vigilant. This meant after looking at the blonde three times in a single class period, she wasn't allowed to do so again, unless otherwise unavoidable. This significantly reduced her chance of being caught openly gawking.

            Rule 3: Never walk alone. Krista usually got a ride home from school with her friend, but on occasion they'd walk instead. This would be totally fine, if it wasn't for the fact that she and Ymir seemingly shared the same walking path to and from school, hence the creation of rule three. Krista was a nice person, the kind of person who, if she saw someone walking home all alone, would most likely invite them to walk with her. That'd be all fine and dandy, if it wasn't for the simple fact that the blonde made Ymir's words disappear faster than food disappeared around Sasha.

            If no friend was currently available, listening to music on her phone while wearing earbuds was a suitable alternative.

            Rule 4: Never, under any circumstance, be alone with the Goddess. She was too bright and too beautiful. Like the sun, being too close would result in Ymir combusting into flames. If the blonde happened to be walking by and there was nowhere to hide and no one to feign conversation with, Ymir was to divert to option B: pull out her phone and pretend she was reading a text.

            Rule 5: Do not, repeat, do not ever ask Krista Lenz out. Her inevitable refusal would be heartbreaking.

            The rules were put in place to keep Ymir's poor little geeky heart safe, but Krista Lenz did not adhere to the rules. She was a geeky-heart-rule rebel.

            On Tuesday, the blonde smiled at her as she headed into Math class. Throughout the remainder of the hour-long class, she caught Krista looking at her twice.

            On Wednesday, she popped up out of the blue while Ymir was on her way to class and said, "Hi." Ymir, in an attempt to follow rule 4, tried to pull out her phone to feign text reading, but instead launched the thing down the hall, resulting in a cracked screen.

            On Thursday, Ymir dropped her pencil in art class. Before she could even process what happened, the tiny blonde had returned it to Ymir's desk. Again, the Goddess smiled at the brunette, and Ymir thought she was gonna keel over then and there.

            On Friday, well, nothing happened yet. It was lunch time and there hadn't been a single incident.

            Ymir had passed on all the information to her friends, but they had yet to be convinced. Sasha was flipping through a binder filled with trading cards.

            "She picked up your pencil, isn't that just a thing decent people do?" Sasha asked. "Would you trade it for my full-art Generations Pikachu card?"

            "Well yeah, it's what most people would do, but then she smiled at me," Ymir added. "And hell no. I already have three."

            "Oh my God, she smiled at you? She must be planning your wedding already," she frowned. "PSA 8 Team Rocket's Charizard?"

            "Fuck you and your stupid, sarcastic face, potato girl. You can stick your Charizard up your-"

            "So what, you think she might be into you?" Eren asked, interrupting Ymir's crude remark.

            "Hell no," the freckled girl answered, frowning. "Have you seen her? There's no way."

            "...base set Charizard, Lost Link Absol, or my Mega-Absol card..." Sasha continued to offer.

            "Then what?"

            "Pity?"

            "Well, you do have this unnatural ability to do horribly inappropriate things at the worst imaginable time. Perhaps she's just waiting for the next show?" Armin deduced.

            "I'd be offended if that wasn't a valid possibility."

            "...Legendary collections reverse holographic Blastoise, Base set venasaur, secret rare Magikarp..." Sasha continued flipping through her binder.

            "It's just, before this week I could count on one hand all the times I've interacted with Krista," Ymir stated.

            "Well, technically she did all the interacting. You just kinda sat there," Mikasa pointed out, having pulled her scarf down long enough to join the conversation.

            "...Shining Kabutops, Birthday Pikachu..."

            "True, but still, in the last week there have been more incidents of her showing she recognizes my existence than there have been in the entire time before that."

            "Oh my God!" Eren slammed his palm on the table, earning a glare from his sister. "I've got it! I know what's happening!"

            "What?" Ymir asked, hoping anyone, even Mikasa's idiot brother, could shine some light on the situation.

            "You've gone bat-crap crazy."

            "Fuck you."

            "...My entire radiant collection set..."

            "Screw you, Potato Girl. You can't have my Twinkie."

            Their usual unhelpful banter continued for the rest of lunch, and when Ymir went to math, she was just as confused as she was before. Despite Krista sharing the class with her, there were no glances or smiles. It was like Ymir was, once again, invisible. P.E. wasn't much better.

            Unlike the movies, Ymir and her nerd friends weren't hopelessly devoid of physical abilities. In fact, Ymir was a speedy fucker, Mikasa was an ace at just about every sport she attempted, no one tried harder than Eren, and, if motivated, even Sasha had some skills. That being said, only a small subset of people actually tried in the class. While the geeks and a couple others ran around chasing soccer balls, shooting hoops, and stealing flags, the other teens usually stood in groups, talking. Krista was one of the few non-geeks who tried.

            After a long hour of practicing relay running, the students finally retired to the locker rooms. The air was sticky warm and it smelled of sweat and a variety of body sprays the girls used in a futile attempt to mask it. As bad as it was, the brunette knew from Eren’s horror stories that the boys’ room was a hundred times worse.

            Ymir trudged over to her locker. Because they were automatically assigned, the brunette had no choice in which one she got, so Mikasa and Sasha were on the other side of the room.

            The freckled girl unlocked her locker and pulled out her regular clothes, eager to get out of the nasty ones she was currently wearing. Setting her outfit on the bench behind her, her fingertips gripped the hem of her gym shirt, and she slowly pulled it off. It felt good to let her skin breathe and to finally have the damp piece of clothing off. Everything ached, just like she knew it would.

            Ymir interlocked her fingers and reached towards the ceiling, stretching out her sore body. She could feel the muscles in her back twitching, and let out a soft moan.

            "Oh."

            The soft voice came from behind the brunette and she froze. Taking a deep breath, Ymir clutched her shirt against her front to cover her exposed stomach and turned around.

            Krista was staring at her, a light red flush gracing her cheeks. Their eyes met, and neither blue nor gold could look away. What felt like an hour of silence was, in reality, just a few seconds.

            "Er… uhm, Krista?"

            The blonde shook her head, whatever trance she was in disappearing.

            “Sorry, I was spacing out,” she answered, shrugging. Something about the smile she gave Ymir seemed off.

The tiny girl threw her gym clothes in a bag and turned to leave. “See you next week! Have an awesome weekend.”

Ymir stood frozen to her spot. Had it been anyone else, she would have thought maybe, just maybe, they were checking her out.

            But that couldn’t be the case here.

            She didn’t need to look in a mirror to know her hair was a mess. She knew the acne was there and her heavy-lidded eyes gave her the appearance of always being bored. She was sweaty and she could feel wet strands of hair sticking to her face. She cursed like a sailor, was socially awkward, and threw insults at everyone because they were a hell of a lot easier to handle than compliments.

            No, Krista would never be interested in her, and even if she was, the blonde deserved far more than she could give. Ymir resigned herself to that fact the moment she’d first laid eyes on her. Krista Lenz was an intangible goddess and Ymir… Ymir was just Ymir.

After getting out of school, the freckled girl decided to stop by her favorite game shop in town. Technically, it was also the only game shop in town.

            When she opened the door to the store, she was met by the familiar sight of videogames lining each wall. A large TV was latched to the wall behind the counter, informing shoppers of games that would soon be available. Aside from the clerk and a couple guys in the game room, a room filled with tables where visitors could hold card and videogame battles, Ymir was the only one there. Behind the counter was a large display of action figures and various new game releases Ymir had yet to look at.

            The place was simple, but it was her own little utopia, and she always came here when she was feeling like crap.

            “Ymir, the great titan slayer, my favorite customer, how’s it going?”

            “I’ve had better days,” she admitted to the dude behind the counter. “What’s with buttering me up, Reiner? What do you want?” She eyed him suspiciously.

            The blonde guy grasped at his heart, an over exaggerated look of pain on his face.

            “What, I can’t be nice? Maybe I was just appreciating your presence, ever think of that?”

            “Reiner.”

            “I’m starting to feel unloved. I was just trying to be a caring, thoughtful individual for a change, and then you go off and crush my devotion. It hurts you know, like in a deep and emotional kind of way. That’s it, we’re no longer Facebook friends!”

            “Reiner!”

            “Would you watch the counter for me for like… five minutes? I gotta hit up the bathroom and Bertholdt’s on lunch.”

            “See? I knew you wanted something.”

            “Yeah, yeah, good for you, the nerd got something right. You should be used to it by now. So, will you do it?”

            “I dunno, can you give me a couple minutes to think about it?”

            “Ymir…”

            “I think I should make you beg.”

            “Ymir!”

            “Ugh, fine, but you owe me kid.”

            Before she could even finish telling him it was okay, Reiner bolted off and disappeared behind a door labeled, “Employees only.” Bracing her palms against the counter, Ymir easily hopped over to the other side.

            Grabbing the TV remote from underneath a pile of Game Informer magazines, Ymir muted the constantly repeating drabble she’d heard many times before, and turned the music up instead. She got to listen to the last couple seconds of Bohemian Rhapsody, cursing the radio gods for her misfortune, when a man’s almost monotone voice filled the store.

            “I’m too sexy for my love, too sexy for my love, love’s going to leave me,” the man crooned.

            The moment the drums kicked in, Ymir lost all the professionalism she was pretending to have in her friend’s absence, and instead began shaking her hips to the song. The guys in the game room looked up, confused, but the brunette couldn’t care less.

            “I’m too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts.”

            As her dance moves grew wilder, Ymir attempted to spin on the spot, but her converse got caught on the carpet and she toppled over, taking down the action figure display with her. After the initial shock, because her clumsiness sometimes even surprised herself, the brunette chuckled as she hopped up from the floor.

            Ymir picked up a Harley Quinn action figure from the floor. Clutching the statuette in her fist, she brought her close to her mouth, using the collectible as an impromptu microphone.

            “And I’m too sexy for Milan, too sexy for Milan, New York, and Japan!” The brunette sang along. With her free hand she started picking up her victims off the floor.

            “And I’m too sexy for your party, too sexy for your party. No way I’m disco dancing,” she rocked her shoulders and stepped to the beat of the music. As she moved around, she stacked the action figures in a pyramid. Unable to reach the top, she hopped up onto the table. She placed a Pokéball at the top. Her back to the open store, she didn’t notice two short blondes walk in as she began to alternate between shaking her ass and thrusting her pelvis.

            “I’m a model, you know what I mean, and I do my little turn on the catwalk,” Ymir hopped backwards off the counter, the small villainess still grasped tightly in her hand as she admired her handiwork.

            “Aww, was that the end of the show?”

            Ymir turned on the spot, ready to tell whoever interrupted her mad dance session to shove the Joker’s girlfriend somewhere the sun doesn’t shine, when she noticed who’d been watching.

            She must’ve done something downright evil to fucking piss off the universe so bad that she deserved this kinda karma.

            Krista was smirking while her friend, Ymir thought her name may have been Annie, looked rather unimpressed. If the freckled girl thought the whole locker thing was awkward, it was nothing compared to this moment.

            “So, no encore?” the bored friend asked.

“I-I,” Ymir couldn’t make the words come out. She felt like making a dash for the “Employees Only” door, but resisted the urge. She’d have to see these people again come Monday, and running away would only make it worse.

            The brunette bit her bottom lip, staring down at her shoes as she kicked her feet against the floor. Her ears felt hot and she could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, trying to break free. “Uhm, the freckled geek has left the building. Show up pretty much anytime at all to see her make a total ass out of herself again. It literally happens all the time.”

            The shorter, smiling blonde’s chuckle made Ymir’s heart sing, and she almost forgot just how badly she’d humiliated herself only moments before. She caught herself thinking that she’d like to be the one responsible for making her laugh like that again.

            “Right, I’m gonna be over there,” Annie informed her friend, pointing over towards the computer games.

            “Okay.” Krista nodded, but didn’t follow.

            Ymir stood behind the counter, not knowing what to say or do. She fiddled around with a flier Reiner had left on the desktop, her eyes scanning everywhere in the store except for where her crush now stood.

            **_Say something, anything! You’ve already completely embarrassed yourself. You can’t make it much worse._**

“I don’t really work here. Reiner just had to pee,” the brunette explained. “Err, I mean use the restroom. And the music, well, I was just… uhm, working out my…” she racked her brain for a muscle her ass shaking would have worked out, but her head had a tendency to not work right around the blonde, “-my, uhm, gluteus maximus.”

            **_Shit._**

“Oh,” Krista was smirking. Ymir nearly cursed the girl for being so amused by her ability to make her turn into a rambling idiot. “Do you do that often?”

            “No more than the average person does, but, you know, usually in the privacy of their home. I’m starting to see why that is right now.” Ymir ran a trembling hand through her hair.

            “Do you always pelvic thrust to “I’m too Sexy” in public?

            “This is the first time in public. I usually only do that in the privacy of my own room.”

            It took one of the blonde’s perfect eyebrows to arch before Ymir realized how that sounded.

            “I listen to it when I play! Err, play games that is. Videogames, not kinky games!”

            **_Oh God, Shut up, shut up, shut up! Someone please sedate me._**

“Oh, you don’t have to explain to me. It’s none of my business what kind of pervy games you play in the privacy of your room.”

“No, I play videogames with other people… Armin, Sasha, Mikasa, and Eren. Mikasa actually made me the gaming soundtrack with this song on it, hence me knowing all the lyrics.”

            Krista’s playful grin left Ymir nervous. She waited nervously for the blonde’s next question, which would most definitely result in the freckled girl rambling on and on again, but it never came. She seemed to be distracted by something.

            “Wow, the entire place isn’t burned to the ground. Color me impressed,” the previously M.I.A. game clerk praised Ymir, wrapping a large beefy arm around her shoulders. The freckled girl didn’t catch Krista’s frown. “I was thinking everything would be smoke and ash by now.” The tall blond checked out the stranger in front of him. “Ymir, are you gonna introduce me to your cute friend?”

            The tall girl glared at Reiner. She grabbed one of his wrists between her finger and thumb, and pulled him off of her. “Reiner, this is the Godde- er, I mean, this is Krista.”

            Krista smiled, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

            “Likewise. I’ve only ever seen Ymir with the scarfed mute, the one that’s always hungry, the brain, and the super loud guy, so it’s nice to see she has a non-social recluse for a friend as well.”

            “Hey, those social recluses keep this place in business so your ass can keep getting paychecks,” the brunette reminded him. “And they have the ability to leave scorching reviews.”

            Reiner raised his hands in surrender. “Aww, you know I’m only teasing. I love you and your dorky friends.” He turned back towards the other girl. “So, anything I can help you with today?”

            “No, Ymir was actually just helping me,” Krista nodded towards the girl.

            “I was?” The tiny blonde’s arched eyebrow warned the brunette that she was supposed to play along. “I mean, yeah, I was!”

            “Oh, uh, okay then,” Reiner stammered. He stared blankly at the two girls.

            Ymir slipped out from behind the counter and before she had any idea what was going on, Krista was pulling her over to the other side of the store. They finally stopped in front of a display of vintage game consoles.

            “Does your boyfriend usually leave you to watch the shop for him?” the blonde asked. She stared straight ahead at an original Nintendo, not daring to look at the tall girl beside her.

            Ymir snorted and couldn’t help laughing a little. Like a puppy dog, Krista tilted her head to the side, confused, staring at her, and the freckled girl’s laughter immediately stopped. When Krista looked at her like that, neither Ymir’s body nor thoughts functioned properly.

            “He’s not,” she cleared her throat, “definitely not my boyfriend. And this was the first time he had me watch the place for him.”

            The blonde noticeably relaxed, and Ymir was met by a genuine smile. The whole thing was all very confusing to the brunette, but she shrugged it off as yet another thing attractive people did that she’d probably never understand.             “Good,” Krista replied. There was a twinkle in the shorter girl’s eyes, and had Ymir not looked away she was fairly certain she’d have died then and there of Krista hotness-overload.

            “Good?”

            “Yup,” she smiled. She didn’t explain any further, and Ymir was too puzzled to ask.

            “Right, so you needed help with something? Or at least that’s what you told Reiner.”

            “Yeah, Annie was looking for an old expansion for some game she plays. Something about fighting giants, I think.”

            “Annie plays Attack on Titan?” To say that shocked Ymir would have been an understatement. Krista’s friend seemed like the last person she could imagine to have an interest in playing online games. “Well, which one does she need?”

            “She said something about a ‘Trost.’ I really have no idea what that means.”

            “Oh, I know what you’re talking about, but they haven’t had that here in a while,” Ymir explained. The tiny blonde frowned. “It came out quite a ways back.”

            “Well there goes my plan for her birthday present,” Krista sighed.

            “Luckily for you I happen to be someone who picks up all things A.O.T and have an extra one you can have. Even if I have something already, I have to grab it. It’s an obsession.”

            “Oh, I couldn’t take that.”

            “It’s really no problem at all.”

            “You wouldn’t mind?”

            “Nah, I’ll have it for you Monday.” Ymir’s videogame sacrifice was completely and totally worth it, because as soon as the words left her mouth, Krista beamed just for her. It was the kind of smile that made the brunette feel like what she had just done was the most fantastic thing she’d ever do in her entire life. Like she saved a puppy or gave a little kid a pony or something.

            “You’re kinda awesome.”

            “It’s really nothing,” Ymir replied, staring down at her shoes, unable to meet Krista’s gaze.

            “No, it’s kinda a crazy nice thing to do for someone you barely know.”

            “Well, you know, gaming nerds need to stick together. I have no problem sharing the titan love with Annie.” Ymir had no idea that Krista had actually been referring to herself, not her friend.

            The blonde looked like she was about to say something when Ymir’s back pocket started to vibrate. A muffled woman’s voice erupted from her pants.

            “I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it. I’m about to lose control and I think I like it,” the voice sang.

            Ymir’s hand shot to her pocket and she grabbed her phone as quickly as she could, rejecting the call in order to make the song stop.

            “Err, I have to go home.” The brunette had no idea who set, “I’m So Excited” as her ringtone, but she was planning to kill her friends when she saw them.

            “Oh, alright,” Krista nodded. Ymir was probably just imagining it, but the blonde looked bummed out.

            “Uhm, see you tomorrow then.” The brunette started walking towards the door.

            “Oh, and Ymir?”

            Ymir looked back over her shoulder at the other girl. “Yeah?”

            “You don’t need to go pelvic thrusting on counters in public, or in the privacy of your room. Your ass is kinda fantastic just as it is.”

            Ymir’s brain stopped working.

            Like, in a stood there with a blank expression, completely dead to the world kinda way. After a couple of long moments, she finally came back to Earth.

            “Uhm, okay.”

            She turned around and walked towards the door. She knew she probably shouldn’t have, but Ymir couldn’t help but glance back at the blonde who was, in fact, still watching her as she left.

            Ymir’s entire face got hot and she must’ve completely forgotten what she was doing, because the next thing she knew, she was walking smack into the shop’s glass door. Apologizing to the door while rubbing her face, she opened it and slipped out. She kept her eyes on the ground as she briskly walked away.

            **_Fucking Fuckity Fuck._**

            Unbeknownst to the brunette, Krista had seen the whole thing. Somewhere between noticing the girl around school, the invite to sleep sex when they first spoke, the small day to day interactions, being surprised and riveted by Ymir’s lean back muscles in the locker room, walking into the game shop to find her dancing like a total spaz on the counter, and watching Ymir walk face-first into a door, Krista had decided she wanted to get to know the freckled girl much, much better.

****


	3. Lara Croft

**Chapter 3: Lara Croft**

            Ymir hit the correct sequence of buttons, successfully assaulting Eren’s character with a barrage of fireballs.

            “Eat it, bitch!”

            “Screw you,” the boy sighed. His character was a crumpled mess on the floor. “I almost had you, and you know it.”

            “I know I completely kicked your ass.”

            Ymir and her usual dork posse were seated at their table in the quad. Eren, who had yet to ever defeat his freckled friend at a fighting game, decided to challenge her before school started. Yet again, he’d failed miserably.

            “Less gaming, more info,” Sasha complained, hoping Ymir would finish her story.

            “Oh yeah, well after the whole awkward thing in the locker room, I went to the game store. Reiner had me watch the desk and, I’m really not sure how it happened, but I started getting my groove on, and the Goddess and her friend walk in, pretty much catching me shaking my ass all over the place. One thing led to another and we talked a little-“

            “You actually talked to Krista? As in real words came out of your face instead of just high pitched attempts at communication?” Eren asked. “This story sounds kinda bogus to me already. Was there a unicorn there that took you away to a magical land?”

            “Shut up, it happened. Anyways,” Ymir hit the rematch button, “as I’m walking outta the store, she pretty much tells me I have a nice ass!”

            “Oh yeah, sure she did.” Armin rolled his eyes.

            “She did, I swear!”

            “So, let me get this straight,” Sasha piped up, attempting to put all the information she’d been given together logically. “Krista Lenz, the Goddess, an angel among us mere mortals, flirted with you… Ymir, the chick who’s so flat her boobs practically concave.”

            “Yes. Fuck you, but yes.”

            “Bullshit.”

            “It really happened,” Ymir smacked her fist against the table for emphasis. “And then, well, I kinda sorta walked into a glass door.”

            “Oh, I believe that part,” Armin chirped. “The rest was a bit too farfetched, though.”

            “Be serious for a sec, guys. I mean, I know nothing’s going to happen, and that it meant nothing,” Ymir continued, landing a perfect uppercut against Eren’s character, sending him flying across the screen. She heard the boy curse. “I’m just super confused right now and I’m not sure how to take it. I mean, it’s probably just her sense of humor, right?”

            “What’s so confusing?” asked a soft, sweet voice behind Ymir. The sweet sound and the gentle hand now resting on her shoulder made Ymir freeze, her fingers no longer working to kick her friend’s virtual ass. Looking up from her 3ds, she noticed almost all of her friends had stopped whatever they were doing as well, shocked expressions on their faces. The only one still moving was Eren, who was furiously slapping buttons in an attempt to defeat his stunned opponent.

            Ymir closed the hand-held, much to Eren’s dismay, and turned towards Krista, attempting to smile. She really hoped it didn’t come off looking too creeper-ish. “I’m just confused because, after years and years of playing, I have no idea how Eren still sucks so bad at fighting games.” The freckled girl found it was much easier to talk to the beautiful blonde when it wasn’t one-on-one… and when the short girl wasn’t looking at her like she was expecting her to do something freakish at any given moment.

            “So he gets his ass kicked in the virtual world as well as the real one?” asked the short blonde next to Krista. Ymir hadn’t even noticed Annie until she spoke.

            “What a jerk,” Mikasa muttered. Ymir snorted, just barely able to understand the girl’s mumblings through her scarf.

            Annie eyed the raven-haired nerd suspiciously. “What did you just say?”

            “Er… I love homework.” The geek pulled her scarf down to talk, and then pointed down at the math sheet in front of her. Annie wasn’t convinced, but decided to let it go.

            “I’m sure you do.”

            “Anyways,” Krista spoke up, interrupting whatever was happening between the scarf girl and her friend. “I was wondering if you had that thing we were talking about at the store Friday.”

            “Yup, it’s in my bag.” She eyed Annie. “Uh, but did you want it now or later?”

            Krista bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brow, and Ymir discovered that her eyes refused to look away from the other girl’s perfect mouth.

            “Would after P.E. be okay?” the blonde asked.

            “Yeah, er… sure, P.E. is fine. That works for me. It’s good. Like, totally alright. Perfect time to do it, in fact. I really need to stop talking,” the brunette mumbled.

            Ymir’s friends and Annie were confused, but for different reasons. While Annie was wondering what this secret item was, the nerds were still wondering why the hell the Goddess of their high school was talking to Ymir, the girl who didn’t own a single pair of jeans without holes in the knees because she tripped over her own feet so often. The girl who had walked into the same telephone pole in front of the school so many times her friends teased her that she was dating it. The girl who became physically ill every time she had to make a speech in front of her class.

            Though each of the nerds was brilliant, like, solved extremely difficult math problems for shits and giggles kinda smart, this was a logic problem that seemed impossible to solve.

            When Krista and Annie eventually went on their way, Ymir’s friends stared blankly at her, as if she was some kind of two-headed alien. It was really creeping the brunette out.

            “Alright, what? What’s with the creeper faces?”

            “Krista was talking to you,” Armin blurted, barely believing his own words. “Like, hand on your shoulder, looking at you as you responded kinda talking to you.”

            “No shit, Sherlock. I’ve been trying to explain to you guys this whole time.”

            “Wait, so it wasn’t bullshit?” Eren asked. “Like, everything you said was the legit shit?”

            “You know what? Fuck you guys. So I’m a little clumsy-“

            “And crude,” Sasha added.

            “Yes, thanks Sasha,” Ymir sighed.

            “And more obsessed with the virtual world than the real one,” Armin continued.

            “And you pretty much insult every person you come into contact with,” Eren offered.

            “And brash.”

            “Kinda creepy, borderline stalkerish.”

            “And when you eat powdered donuts it looks like you dove face-first into a plate of crack.”

            “And sometimes, when you’re sick, your nose whistles in a super annoying, high-pitched kind of way.”

            “And you once proposed marriage to a pizza.”

            Mikasa was about to pull her scarf down when Ymir pointed at her and glared.

            “Don’t go adding anything to the list, lady. I already feel inadequate enough without you guys reminding me, jerks.”

            “Actually, I was about to say you might have a chance,” the black-haired girl replied, shrugging. Her comment earned her a bewildered look from all of her friends. “But I’ll stay quiet if you prefer.” She was about to pull the scarf back up, but her freckled friend stopped her.

            “Wait, what makes you say that?” Without realizing it, Ymir had scooted in towards Mikasa, and was now practically pressed against her side.

            “It’s a pretty well known fact that she shares your preferences.”

            “Preferences? Wait, you mean she likes girls, too?” Ymir asked, excited.

            “Since when is that a well known fact?” Sasha asked. “No one told me.”

            “That’s not exactly surprising,” Armin pointed out. “No one gossips with us. We’re just the weird kids who sit in the corner, playing with our toys.”

            “Excuse me, they’re collectibles,” Mikasa corrected.

            “Truth,” the blond boy nodded. “But that doesn’t change the fact that normal people don’t waste their time telling us about the latest news around the school.”

            “She likes girls…” Ymir seemed lost in thought, but after what seemed like a minute, her eyes snapped back into focus. “But how can you be sure? Based on high school TV shows I’ve researched, rumors aren’t exactly reliable.”

            The girl with the red scarf shrugged. “Just trust me on this one,” she muttered. She pulled the scarf back over her mouth and went back to her math, done with the conversation. She wouldn’t say it, but Mikasa made sure to take notice of the way Krista watched Ymir during their conversation.

            Yeah, her friend definitely had a chance. In fact, she was willing to bet on it.

            When Ymir’s art class eventually rolled around, she appreciated the break. While learning who killed who and when in History class, writing an essay in Honors English, and sitting through a lecture in Chemistry was all types of fun, being able to sit at a desk and just doodle without having to use her brain was a welcome reprieve.

            The elective was easily her favorite class, not just because it was a nice breather from all the academic classes she had, but because she genuinely liked to draw. The fact that Krista usually sat at the table right in front of Ymir and Mikasa was an added benefit. She often stared at all the different shades of gold that made up the girl’s blonde hair.

            The tall brunette pulled out her sketchbook, hoping today would be a free draw day. Mikasa followed suit and opened up to the page she’d been working on last week.

            “Holy shit, is there anything you’re not good at?” Ymir asked, looking at her friend’s drawing, then down at hers. While Mikasa’s picture depicted the epic battle between her A.O.T character and a titan in painstakingly graphic detail, Ymir had drawn a stick figure version of herself being all dashing in front of what was supposed to be a stick figure Krista, but in reality looked suspiciously like a fire-breathing squirrel. If the freckled girl squinted her eyes and tilted her head a little bit, that is. “Not quite as good as mine, but you’ll get there.”

            “Why’d you draw a dude talking to a turkey?” Mikasa asked, having lowered her red scarf. Her eyes studied Ymir’s drawing steadily, but her confusion was pretty damn obvious. It hadn’t been a joke. She really thought that was what her friend drew. Well fuckles.

            “Fuck you, it’s not a turkey, you jackass,” the freckled girl whispered.

            “Could’ve fooled me.”

            Students continued slipping into the classroom as Ymir pulled the page out of her sketchbook and crumpled it up. The brunette tossed it at the recycling bin, but the paper ball bounced off the rim before rolling even further away.

            “And that’s why you’re a nerd and not one of the jocks,” Mikasa muttered, her face mere inches from her drawing.

            “Shut your face. How the hell did you know I missed, anyways? You didn’t even look up to check,” the taller girl pointed out.

            “Didn’t have to check,” the girl pulled a used page out of her own sketchbook, crumpled it up, and shot it. The paper ball arched perfectly in the air before falling gracefully into the makeshift basketball net.

            “How the fuck?”

            “Shooting game at the arcade.”

            “Screw you, Ackerman.”

            Mikasa shrugged and continued on with her sketch. They both drew in silence for a few minutes and when the Asian girl did eventually glance at her friend, she saw the brunette fully focused on her own drawing, one that looked suspiciously like a very detailed picture of Ymir beating Mikasa over the head with something that had not yet been fully sketched out.

            At some point during their drawing duel, Annie and Krista had slipped into their class. Now free of her own illustrating trance, Mikasa was able to notice the way the shorter blonde kept peeking at the freckled brunette. How long had that been happening without her noticing? Had the day she left Ymir sleeping in History class really been the first time Krista had noticed her?

            She glanced over at her friend who, on the other hand, was totally in the zone.

            Ymir added a tear rolling down the sketched Mikasa’s face, though she couldn’t recall having ever actually seen the girl cry for real. She was so entranced by the gloriousness of her vengeance that she didn’t even realize that her teacher had been talking for the last fifteen minutes. When she finally did pull herself away from the drawing, the professor was already nearly done.

            “This partner project will count for twenty-five percent of your grade, and will be due at the end of the quarter,” the teacher droned on, his monotonous voice making it difficult to listen.

            Ymir turned towards Mikasa, but was met by an empty seat. When the hell did that wannabe ninja chick sneak out?

            “Hey, Ymir?” the brunette could feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up when Krista said her name. She looked up, meeting the blonde’s gaze.

            “Errmf?”

            **_What the fuck was that?_**

The short girl tilted her head to the side and one of her eyebrows raised. A light blush slowly spread across the brunette’s cheeks, and Ymir found herself really hoping Krista wasn’t internally cursing the day she decided to talk to the awkward girl with the freckles.

            “I meant to say, ‘Yes?’” she explained. “It would appear I can’t talk today, which is weird since I usually never shut up, if you hadn’t already noticed.”

            “Do you wanna be my partner?” Krista blurted out. Ymir stared at her blankly, and the blonde added, “I mean, for the art project, that is.”

            Ymir knew what she’d meant, but it didn’t make it any less shocking to hear.

            “Er, yeah! Sure, if that’s okay,” the brunette’s eyes darted over to Annie who looked somewhat confused.

            “Did I miss anything important?” Ymir’s missing friend asked, pulling her scarf down as she sat back down in her seat. The brunette failed to notice the devious smile on the Asian girl’s face.

            “Seriously, you’re ditching me for your gamer girl and pretty much forcing me to work with the female version of Kenny from Southpark?” Annie asked, pointing at the girl who had just arrived.

            Mikasa was hoping things would turn out this way. She had noticed her friend spacing out while the project was being explained, so when the teacher told them they’d be doing the project in groups of two, Mikasa knew it was her chance to play cupid.

            She loved Ymir, she really did. The kid had been her best friend since the first time they met in elementary school. Back then Mikasa was the new kid who’d only ever hang out with her brother and his best friend. Ymir even introduced her to video games and Anime. Ever since, they’d always stuck with each other, so Mikasa knew Ymir better than pretty much anyone else did. Eventually, at the beginning of middle high, Sasha joined their little Scooby gang, and their pack was completed.

           She grew up with Ymir, and because of this she knew, when it came to romance at least, her friend lacked even the tiniest iota of self esteem. If Mikasa didn’t stack the deck in her friend’s favor, the girl would end up an eighty-year old crone whose most fulfilling relationship would be that which she had with her cat.

            So, instead of sitting around and waiting for the inevitable pairing-off, Mikasa excused herself to the restroom. Their teacher never forced pairs to work together, and always gave students the choice, so when she got up to walk out of the classroom, she made sure to lock eyes with Krista before tilting her head towards Ymir then arching an eyebrow, making sure the girl got her message. She seemed to, because after offering a guilty smile, she nodded.

            The fact that Mikasa was now being forced to work with Annie, who was possibly the biggest jerk and most annoying person she’d ever met, was just something she’d have to deal with in trade for her friend’s future happiness. She just hoped Ymir wouldn’t fuck it up.

            “Intimidated by my artistic skills?” Mikasa asked the annoyed blonde. “Can’t keep up?”

            Annie rolled her eyes. “Even the dopey nerd who smashed her face against a glass door is preferable to you.”

            “Wait,” Ymir turned to Krista. “You told her about that?”

            “Ymir, everyone in the store saw and heard it. That clerk guy was laughing so hard I thought he was gonna pass out,” the short girl explained. “He was still wheezing by the time we left.”

            “Well fuck-a-doodle-doo.”

            Eventually things eased up and Annie and Krista joined Ymir and Mikasa’s table. The other girls had to explain what exactly the project was for the brunette, as she hadn’t even taken in a single word about it. The gamers already had plans for after school, so the pairs decided to start the project the next day.

            Once art class was over, the rest of the day went by pretty fast. Before she knew it, Ymir had finished her last period of the day. Since Annie wasn’t in the same P.E. class as Ymir and Krista, the brunette slipped the game to the blonde, earning another smile. After the Goddess said goodbye and Ymir muttered what was supposed to be, ‘have a good one,” but really came out more like an incoherent word spew, the freckled girl met up with her nerd friends.

            The moment Ymir walked into the game store with the others, Reiner pointed at her and started laughing.

            “Fuck you, douche nozzle,” Ymir muttered, glaring at the boy. It took the brunette a moment to realize the store was packed. That was a pretty damn rare sight. “What’s with all the people? Did you force Bertholdt to dress up as Lara Croft again?”

            “That only happened once,” Bertholdt huffed. “Never again.”

            “There may be a special Attack on Titan event coming up,” Reiner replied, once he’d finished giggling. Ymir would have been disturbed by the fact that the clerk had just had a giggle fit, but she was too distracted by what he just said.

            “Wait, what?” Eren asked, pushing his way past several customers. “What kinda event?”

            Reiner smirked and pulled out a flier from behind the counter. “Read it and weep your little, geeky gamer tears.”

            Before anyone else could look, Armin had grabbed the piece of paper. For someone who didn’t exactly excel at running, he really could be a speedy little bastard when he wanted to be.

            The blond haired boy, whose hairstyle oddly resembled a mushroom, studied the information. His expression barely changed.

            “So, what is it?” Sasha asked, nervously chewing on a handful of chips.

            “Hey, no food in the store. You know the rules, potato girl,” one of the clerks pointed out.

            “Yeah, yeah.”

            “There’s gonna be a new expansion,” Armin uttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

            “Wait, seriously? It’s been crazy long since the last one.” Ymir was gonna kick the blond boy’s ass if he was pulling her leg.

            “That’s not all,” he continued. “There’s gonna be a tournament at select stores in a few months. The winning team gets the expansion a month before it’s released.”

            The group stared at the flier in awe.

            Too anyone else, it probably didn’t seem like much, but to Ymir’s friends it was different. Obtaining the expansion early meant exploring the place before throngs of people bombarded it. It meant getting exclusive items before anyone else and selling never before seen things to others for a huge in-game profit. It meant getting new abilities and fighting new titans, bigger, badder than ever titans.

            Ymir’s geeky heart felt like it was going to explode.

            “We in?” she asked her friends, knowing she didn’t have to wait for a response.

 


	4. Princess Peach

**Chapter 4: Princess Peach**

            At seven thirty in the morning, the quad was almost completely barren, save for a few nearly passed out kids and a small group of five teens who usually sat at the farthest table to the left. The cluster was talking excitedly amongst themselves, setting them apart from the other students who weren’t yet awake enough to function.

            “So, practice after school today, right?” Ymir asked, wanting to get down to business.

            “Actually, I have a dentist appointment,” Sasha muttered. “But it shouldn’t last too long.”

            “Damn it, Potato Girl. What’s more important, the new expansion or your dental care?”

            “Priorities,” Eren chimed in.

            “How about we meet up at five thirty, that way Sasha’s appointment should be done, but we’ll still have a few hours to practice together as a team,” Armin decided.

            “That works for me,” the always hungry brunette replied.

            “We can meet at my place,” Ymir offered. Whenever the group got together after school or on weekends they usually hung out at either her place or Mikasa and Eren’s home, which was right across the street from Ymir’s. Armin, whose parents were constantly busy being genius rocket scientists, or whatever the heck they were, stayed with the siblings so often that he probably was at their place far more often than in his own house. There was also the factor that his parents disliked having guests when they were gone… something about teens being loud and dirty.

            Sasha, on the other hand, had such a large family that practicing in private would be nearly impossible. The girl shared her room with two of her sisters, so having a little bit of quiet time would have been a miracle.

           “Oooh, can Gran make her famous chocolate chip cookies?” Ymir’s brunette friend asked, practically foaming at the mouth.

           “You can ask when you come over. If I ask, she’ll end up telling me to make them myself, and we all know how that’ll end up.” Her grandmother always said that the house never did smell the same after Ymir’s last attempt at cooking.

           “Not even I could eat them,” Sasha recalled.

           “Code Bangalicious at twelve O’clock,” Eren whispered, pulling the freckled girl away from the charred memory that was the first time she attempted to bake pastries. She had to peer around Mikasa, who sat in front of her, in order to see the small blonde. It had been awhile since Ymir last caught sight of the beautiful girl before class.

           Instead of walking down the hall as she usually did, however; Krista and Annie started walking through the quad, straight towards the nerd table. The freckled girl didn’t miss the puzzled looks of her fellow students as the well known girls made their way to the group of geeks. Ymir would have probably found it comical, had she not been distracted by the certain glow Krista had today, making her look even more beautiful today than ever before.

           Was it the way her golden hair swayed gently in the wind, flicking softly against her cheek, a few strands sticking to her full, pink lips? Possibly. Was it the way her light blue blouse brought out the color of her eyes, making them rival the bright cobalt blue of her favorite translucent game controller? More than likely. Was it the skirt she was wearing, pulling all of Ymir’s attention to the perfect, bare legs which carried the girl closer and closer to her? Oh yeah.

           Ymir shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The brunette’s brain went fuzzy as the beautiful creature walked towards her.

           “Oh Gods, oh Goddesses, oh sweet cosmic owl in the sky,” Ymir muttered, trying and failing to make her brain function correctly.

           “Pull yourself together,” Sasha hissed.

           “I can’t! She’s too shiny and bright and fucking angelic. She’s going to melt my retinas with her hotness overload. It’s fucking criminal, I tell you. She’s going to come over here and the auras of the heavens are gonna blast me into tiny Ymir pieces all over the place.”

           She had no idea what the hell she was going to do when a sharp pain shot up from the tip of her toes to her thighs, causing the freckled girl to cry out in pain.

           “What the fuck?” She glared at the girl sitting across from her. Mikasa eyebrow arched and she tugged her scarf down.

           “Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” the cocky girl noted.

           “Thank you, go screw yourself, but thank you, you gigantic ass.” Ymir couldn’t feel her toes. If Mikasa was going to go stomping on people’s feet, she could at the least have the common courtesy to not wear such thick boots.

           “You guys seem to be having fun,” Krista deduced, a small smile on her lips.

           “Why hello there, Blondie. You’ve been visiting our little gamer posse quite a lot lately, Goddess,” Sasha acknowledged, eyeing Krista with a playful smile. She leaned her elbow on the table and rested her cheek against the palm of her hand. “You even dragged your scary friend over here with you for backup. Do you have ulterior motives? Could it be you’re incredibly attracted to one of us book nerds? You know-”

           The tiny blonde’s mouth fell open and a pink tinge spread across her cheeks. Ymir, taking a note from Mikasa, went to stomp on the brunette’s foot, but she must have missed, because the next thing she knew, Armin was howling in pain.

           “Holy batman in a speedo,” the blond boy groaned. “Why?”

           “What the?” Annie suspiciously eyed the nerds, trying to figure out if they were just acting weirder than usual, or if they were on something.

           “Uhm, his breakfast didn’t agree with him,” Eren lied, patting his injured friend’s back. “Lactose intolerant. I told him ice cream first thing in the morning was a bad idea.”

           “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Sasha continued. Her voice was practically a purr as she pulled the attention back on herself. “While I’m flattered that you obviously have these deep, yearning feelings for me, I fear that I cannot reciprocate your love. It’s not me, it’s you. I’m saving myself for someone else. Someone deep fried and covered in sugar and cinnamon.”

            “Churro?” Annie asked.

            “Hell yes.”

            “Sweet.”

            “I understand,” Krista bowed her head, over-exaggerating her pretend heartbreak. She sniffled, hugging herself for comfort. “I’m just not enough woman for you.”

            “This is true, you’re not,” Sasha nodded, glad she understood. “Though I’d be willing to contemplate having a brief affair if you bring me something sweet to eat.”

            “I made coffee cake last night.”

            The always-hungry brunette stood from the table, her arms held wide open, beckoning the tiny blonde to her embrace. “Will you be my lover on the side, Goddess?”

            “What the fuck is happening?” Annie asked the question that was on all of their minds. Had Krista even talked to the girl who was always shoving food in her face before?

            “Sasha got into the pixie sticks again,” Eren explained his friend’s sudden outgoingness while Krista and Sasha snickered.

            “So what’re you guys up to anyways?” the smaller blonde asked. “You know, aside from attacking each other under the table.”

            “Plotting,” Armin muttered, still rubbing his sore foot.

            “Why am I not surprised?” Annie scoffed.

            “She’s such a pain,” Mikasa mumbled through her scarf, rolling her eyes. Ymir snorted, trying to hold back a laugh.

            “What the hell was that?” the now angry blonde asked. Mikasa pulled down her scarf.

            “I said, ‘Looks like it’s gonna… rain.”’ Coming up with rhymes to mask insults was harder than it seemed.

            Everyone gathered around the table looked up at the clear blue sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and the sun was shining brightly overhead.

            “Bullshit,” Annie muttered, but she left it at that.

            “Anyways,” Krista sighed, hoping to shift the attention in a more positive direction. “I just wanted to know if maybe you’d like to get together after school, Ymir.”

            The freckled geek was pretty sure her heart stopped. All she could do was stare blankly at the object of her affection. Was the angelic being in front of her actually willingly asking to hang out with her? This had to be some crazy misunderstanding.

            “You’re cheating on me already?” Sasha asked in mock outrage. “How could you betray me like this, sweet seraphim?” She paused for a moment. “I still get the coffee cake, right?”

            “I mean to, you know, work on our project,” Krista added.

            Okay, that made a lot more sense. Once Ymir was certain she once again had a pulse, she nodded.

            “Sounds good. Is it okay if we meet at my place after school?” she asked. “We kinda have an Attack on Titan tournament we have to train for,” Ymir explained, wishing that didn’t sound so lame.

            “Sure, mind if I walk with you after school?”

            Before Ymir had a chance to respond, a chorus of “ooohs” and “aaahs” filled the air around them. The freckled girl glared at her friends, instantly shutting them up.

            “Yeah, that-uh, that’s cool,” Ymir stuttered. “But everyone else is gonna come over a bit after five.”

            “Can I come, too?” Annie blurted out. The gamers stared at her, shocked. The usually bored looking blonde seemed even more surprised than they were by her own outburst. “I, uhm, kinda play A.O.T, too. I had no idea there was a tournament coming up.”

            “Uh, sure,” the freckled girl glanced over at Krista who nodded reassuringly and smiled. “Yeah, of course. You’re more than welcome.”

            The group spent the rest of their time explaining how the tournament worked to Annie before classes started. Much to Mikasa’s surprise, the girl seemed genuinely interested in what they had to say.

            When classes eventually did start, Ymir found them to be moving far too quickly. Why was it that whenever she was nervous and wanted the day to stretch on longer, it always seemed to decide to speed up instead? Before she knew it, the day had zipped by and she was walking home with her usual geeky friends, Krista, and Annie. Sasha, however, was absent. She offered a quick, silent prayer for her comrade. Dentist visits were the bane of her existence.

           At some point during art class, her usually silent friend and Annie decided to work on their project at Mikasa’s place before training started. As awkward as she knew spending two hours alone with Krista in her room was going to be, she took great pleasure in knowing it’d be nothing compared to Mikasa’s afternoon. The idea of spending hours with Annie sent shivers down her spine.

            Ymir relished the time spent with the entire group, because she knew it would soon just be her and Krista alone. With her friends around, the brunette felt more relaxed and was able to talk much easier. Without them, her words jumbled up and never came out quite right. She’d always end up doing this bizarre mumbling thing, and no matter how much she mentally told herself to stop, she’d just keep talking gibberish and eventually the other person would simply walk away to escape the awkwardness.

           When they eventually reached Ymir’s house, the teens said their goodbyes and parted ways. Eren, Armin, Annie, and Mikasa crossed the street, walking into the house across from the freckled girl’s. Had Sasha been there, she would have continued down the block to a house just a few away from Ymir’s.

            “Wow, you guys live really close to each other,” Krista mused, looking around the street.

            “Yup,” the brunette smiled. “It makes study sessions crazy convenient.”

            “You know, I usually come by this way when I walk home, too.”

            “I know,” the brunette answered without thinking. She regretted it the moment the words left her mouth.

            “Oh?” Krista asked, smirking. The playful smile that graced her lips scared Ymir. “Ymir, are you stalking me?”

            Shit.

            “Uh, we should go inside,” the freckled girl nodded to her house. “We only have a couple hours to work.”

            “Nice way of dodging the question.”

            Ymir pretended she didn’t hear the blonde. She hitched her messenger bag higher up on her shoulder as she walked along the entrance way leading to her home. Krista followed close behind.

            “Honey, I’m home. Tell me, how much did you miss me?” Ymir called as she opened the door.

            “Oh God, you’re back?” a dry voice asked from deep within the house. “And just when I thought I finally got rid of you.”

            “Bitter old hag,” the teen muttered. She smiled down at the blonde and nodded for her to enter as she held the door open for her. “Welcome to Casa de Ymir.”

            Krista hesitantly stepped inside. She didn’t know what was going on between the tall girl and the owner of the mysterious voice, but their relationship was a foreign one to her. Had she talked that way to any of her elders, she would’ve been grounded until her eighteenth birthday.

           The house was nothing fancy, but it was warm- something she definitely wasn’t used to. A large piano sat next to a big open window that looked out into a flower-filled backyard. Pictures adorned the walls, and the blonde studied the strangers’ faces. Every once in awhile she’d recognize the face of a certain freckled brunette, though much younger. The girl was usually either smiling at the camera or mischievously grinning next to a massive mess. Krista found it odd that in every photo where Ymir was with someone, it was always the same older woman, a woman who seemed too old to be her mother.

            She stopped by a picture she assumed was Ymir, but upon closer inspection, she noticed the young girl in the picture had big, blue eyes, not heavy-lidded gold ones. Krista was about to ask who the girl in the picture was when an older lady, whom she assumed was Ymir’s grandmother, walked in. Unlike the freckled girl, the woman was much closer to Krista’s height and had her graying brunette hair pulled up into a bun, but she had Ymir’s gold eyes. It didn’t take Krista long to realize she was the woman from the pictures, but with a couple years added on.

            The blonde couldn’t explain why, but she immediately felt comfortable in the woman’s presence, and that was saying a lot.

            “Oh, who’s this?” The woman asked, smiling at Krista. She’d never been on the receiving end of such a kind expression from her own grandmother. “It would appear my pain in the ass granddaughter forgot to tell me we’d be having company today, so I didn’t have anything prepared.”

            “Oh, no, it’s my fault, Ma’am. I asked Ymir if we could work on a school project together after school. I’m sorry,” the tiny girl apologized. “My name is Krista Lenz, by the way.”

            “Oh my goodness, she has manners!” she turned towards Ymir, mock shock painting her lightly wrinkled face. “That’s a first. Ymir, take notes!”

            “Shut it, you delirious old hag. I’m always fucking polite,” the freckled girl complained. Krista was shocked to hear Ymir talk in such a way, especially to an older lady.

            “I should’ve dropped you more as a baby,” the older woman muttered, shaking her head.

            “Oh yeah, love you, too.” Ymir sighed. “Wait, more?”

            “Explains a lot doesn’t it?” The old woman smirked.

            “Krista, don’t listen to this crazy, old wench. She’s getting up there in years and she’s going wacko.”

            “Do you hear how she talks to me?” The lady turned to the blonde. “Perhaps your parents wouldn’t mind swapping. I tried bringing this one back, but apparently they don’t take returns.”

            “Yeah, yeah, like I haven’t heard that a hundred times before,” the brunette waved off her gran. “We’re gonna go upstairs before Krista catches your old.”

            Ymir walked across the room and beckoned Krista to follow her.

            “Oh yeah, another age joke. How original. I thought I taught you better,” Ymir’s grandmother called after them.

            Krista followed Ymir up the stairs and down a hall. Even more pictures lined the narrow halls here. She recognized a tiny Asian girl with a little red scarf in several, two boys, one brunette and one a blond, causing trouble in quite a few, and a brunette girl who, in each and every picture she was present in, was eating something. Though they were close, Krista and Annie had only really become good friends in high school. The blonde couldn’t help but feel the teensiest bit jealous as she wondered what it must be like to grow up with your best friends.

           When they got halfway down the corridor, Ymir pulled a vibrant green door open and gestured for the shorter girl to go ahead into the room. After they both entered, she closed the door behind her.

            “Damn old bat,” the freckled girl muttered.

            Ymir’s room looked like a geek’s paradise. There were bookcases filled with endless amounts of books, videogames, TV shows, Manga, and just about everything else. A large glass case held various different consoles, of which Krista only knew the name of a handful.

            Posters of random characters the blonde didn’t recognize decorated the walls and action figures were placed on every surface. Even Ymir’s blanket had a massive Pikachu on it.

            “Can we pretend it looks a little less lame in here?” the brunette asked, half ashamed, yet half proud of her massive collection. “At least it’s clean?”

            “Uhm, Ymir?” Krista asked tentatively.

            “Mhmm?” Ymir responded, picking up a tiny Princess Peach figure that had toppled over before setting it back upright.

            “Do you not get along well with her?”

            “Huh? What? You mean Gran?” Ymir asked, confused. She shook her head, surprised by the question. “I adore that saggy pile of skin and bones. She taught me everything I know. Well, all the curse words and how to flip people off…”

            “But the way you spoke to each other was, well, odd.”

            “Yeah, that’s just how we show our love, I guess.” Ymir slipped off her bag and laid it on her bed.

            “And your parents?”

            “Gran raised me on her own.” Ymir rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged. She kicked her converse off before sitting on her bed. “Oh, uhm, you can take a seat anywhere you’d like.”

            “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” Krista apologized, somewhat ashamed, but the other girl waved her off.

           Though there was a couch, an office chair, and a gaming chair in the freckled girl’s room, the blonde decided to sit on the bed beside Ymir. Ymir did her best not to freak out upon finally coming to the realization that the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen was currently in her room, lounging on her bed, watching her expectantly. When Krista’s bare knee touched Ymir’s, her entire body started to tingle.

            Without thinking about it, Ymir hopped up off the bed and grabbed her laptop off her desk. “So, yeah. I was thinking we can use my laptop to look up some stuff and one of us can take notes. This thing is gonna take a lot of research and we have yet to pick an artist to focus on. I mean, if you already have someone in mind we can go with that, it’s all good. Well, I did have some notes that I had already,” she really needed to stop rambling on and on soon, “but I don’t mind doing the research again if you want to pick someone else-“

            “Ymir?” the blonde interrupted.

            “Yeah?”

            “Are you nervous?” There was no playful smile this time. Krista seemed honestly concerned. Ymir shrugged and stared at the floor.

            “Of course I am. It’s just… well, I mean,” Ymir sighed. Her words were not coming out the way she wanted them to. She was beating around the bush too much, and it was going to drive her crazy. She took in a deep breath, steadied herself, and decided to just be honest. “Krista, you’re the Goddess. That’s what people at school call you. You’re popular, an upperclassman, beyond pretty, practically perfect, half the school’s just about ready to propose to you at the drop of a hat, and you’re nice to everyone. And me? Obviously I’m not quite like that. The only people who’ve ever been in my room before were Mikasa, Sasha, Eren, Armin, and Gran, yet here you are. To be honest, it kinda makes me antsy. Being around you makes me nervous, cuz I’m just a geeky girl with a laptop, and you, well, you’re you.”

            It took Krista a moment to take Ymir’s bizarre speech in. When she finally did, she turned on the bed and pulled her legs up so they were crisscrossed beneath her. She gestured for the brunette to sit in front of her. Ymir conceded and sat where the girl had pointed, mirroring the blonde’s posture. She rested her laptop on her legs and stared at her hands as her fingers drummed against the top of the computer.

            “Ymir,” Krista whispered, seeking the girl’s attention. Ymir looked up. “I can’t swim.”

            “What?” the freckled girl asked, confused by the sudden confession Krista offered her.

            “Yup, I totally sink in water. I’m afraid of crowds because, what with being so short, it kind of feels like I’m lost in a human-forest. I have to paint my nails, because if I don’t I’ll chew them, and my favorite TV show growing up was Pokémon, so I kinda really want to steal your blanket right now.”

            “No offense, but why are you telling me this?” Ymir asked. Her brow was furrowed as she studied the other girl’s face, worried. The blonde offered her a soft smile.

            “Hi, my name is Krista,” she offered the freckled girl her hand. “I’m not a goddess. Far from it really. I’m nothing extraordinarily special, and I’m not perfect. I don’t want anyone, least of all you, to think I am, because the better you get to know me, the more you’ll realize how messed up I really am. I’m just a girl who was invited to sex you up while you were still asleep, a girl who watched you shake your ass on top of a counter, a girl who just listened to you try and out-sass the lady who I’m fairly certain is the reigning queen of sass, and I’m the girl who would really just like to get to know you a little better. I’m used to things being calculated, careful and pristine. I could do with a little of your odd brand of crazy.”

            Ymir took Krista’s hand and tried not to think too much about the fact that she was technically holding the blonde’s hand in her own. “Hey Krista?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Any chance we could just forget about that whole sex invite, pelvis thrusting thing?”

            “Not a chance.”

            “Didn’t think so.”

            After Krista put Ymir at ease, working together was much easier. At some point, sitting on the brunette’s bed while looking up the personal lives of various artists became uncomfortable, so they were now both lying on the bed. The blonde had been in charge of the laptop, while Ymir wrote notes. Krista had wanted to switch, saying something about Ymir’s writing being practically illegible, but eventually the freckled girl was able to get her way.

            They’d been working for well over an hour when Ymir’s muscles started tensing up, so she rolled over onto her back, kicking her legs out and stretching her hands above her head. She was about to turn back over when she noticed the girl laying next to her. It was distracting to say the least.

            Krista was close. Dangerously close. Like, give Ymir a fucking heart attack close. One of her hands propped her head up while the other was busy scrolling down a page on the laptop. Ymir had no idea how long the blonde’s leg had been pressed against hers, or how long Krista’s long blonde hair had been pulled over one shoulder, exposing her neck.

            Goosebumps erupted from Ymir’s arms. Her entire body tensed, and Krista must’ve noticed because she rolled over onto her side, facing the other girl.

            “You okay?” Krista asked, wondering what was matter.

            “Yeah, totally and completely fine,” Ymir answered, not moving. “Never been better. Well, I’ve been better, but top five I guess.”

            “You seem kinda jumpy.”

            “What? Me? Jumpy? Hah, not at all.” The moment the lie left her mouth, a loud vibration went off, and Ymir nearly died. Her eyes shot to her desk where her new phone sat. The screen was alight as it clanked against the wood surface beneath it. A female’s voice began to sing from the speakers.

            “I love myself, I want you to love me. When I feel down, I want you above me. I search myself, I want you to find me. I forget myself, I want you to remind me,” the phone sang.

            Ymir lunged for the phone, but miscalculated horribly. She probably would have been able to recover had her Pikachu blanket not decided to betray her by wrapping itself around her ankle. Shocked by her sudden imbalance, she completely forgot that Krista was so close. In a desperate attempt to not crush the tiny blonde beneath her, the brunette overshot her landing, sending herself tumbling off the bed.

            Krista tried to save the horribly grace impaired girl. She grabbed the brunette’s wrist, but quickly found herself being pulled down as well. She braced herself for the hard fall, but it never came.

            Ymir hit the ground hard, knocking all the wind out of her. After struggling to catch her breath for a moment, it took her a second to notice the small form sprawled on top of her. The tiny blonde’s hands gripped Ymir’s shirt and their legs were tangled in each other. The blanket had followed them at some point, half covering them and half crumpled on the floor. When Ymir looked down, she saw worried blue eyes peering up at her.

            “Krista, are… are you okay?” she asked. The brunette quickly began looking all over the blonde for any obvious injuries.

            Krista couldn’t answer. For the first time, it was she who was at a loss for words.

            Ymir looked at her with such concern, despite having been the one who took the hit hardest, that a wave of warmth rushed over her as she stared into the other girl’s gentle, golden eyes. Ymir’s freckles attempted to hide behind a heavy blush, but were unsuccessful, much to Krista’s delight.

            It was true; she’d been flirting with the freckled brunette for awhile now. She found her oddly alluring, but what had once been a simple, small crush was beginning to change. She’d been in love before, so she knew what this feeling was leading towards, and it terrified her. Mostly because she knew she had no means to fight it.

            Maybe, just maybe, if it was Ymir… this beautiful, peculiar girl lying beneath her… she just might not end up getting hurt like last time.

           She let go of the shirt she’d been holding onto so tightly and slipped her hands to either side of Ymir’s head and pushed herself up. This may have not been her best idea, because she was now leaning over the brunette, their eyes completely level with each other.

           Ymir was biting her bottom lip, something the blonde noticed she often did when she was anxious. Krista was fairly certain the other girl couldn’t be more enticing had she tried. She lost track of time as she stared at the freckled girl’s mouth.

           “Krista?”

            Thundering footsteps were the only warning that company was on its way, but the duo didn’t have enough time to react. The door burst open, and five teens flooded noisily into the room, pushing each other out of the way. The bellowing came to an abrupt halt when they noticed Krista leaning over Ymir. Ymir was about to stammer some kind of explanation, when the voice of Chrissy Amphlett decided to continue singing from her phone.

            No one moved and all that could be heard was the kinky ringtone.

            “I don’t want anybody else. When I think about you, I touch myself. Ooh, I don’t want anybody else, oh no, oh no, oh no.”

            Ymir and Krista stared at the group in front of them. Everyone was speechless, which was saying a lot, considering the majority of them never shut up. A couple mouths hung open and Ymir couldn’t think of a time when she was more embarrassed.

            The silence didn’t last long.

           “Th-this isn’t what it l-loo-looks like,” Ymir stuttered.

           “What it looks like?”Armin asked. The geeks looked at each other confused.

           “She’s saying they weren’t making out all hot and heavy,” Annie explained. “I know you guys are nerds and all, but having to explain that to you all is still pretty damn pathetic.”

           “Of course they weren’t. I mean, this is Ymir,” Eren mused. “Unless… Krista, blink twice if you’re being smooched against your will.”

           “Go screw yourself, Jaeger!” Ymir roared, still on the ground. There was no way for her to be able to get up with the blonde on top of her, unless she decided to push Krista over. “Uhm, Krista. Not that this isn’t extremely embarrassing, but would you mind getting off me so I can go kill my friend.”

           “Oh!” the girl chirped. Krista scrambled off of the brunette and hopped to her feet. Ymir followed suit, rubbing the back of her head as she stood up. “Er, right. Sorry about that.”

           “What’re you apologizing for? I’m the one who fell in the first place.”

           “Sure, fell. Is that what we’re calling it these days?” Sasha asked. “Not pushed her to the ground to have your way with her?

           “Shut your face, Sasha!” Ymir growled. “Anyways, if I pushed Krista over like that, she’d be the one on the ground, not me.”

           “I never said you were the one doing the pushing.”

           “Damn it, Sasha!”

           “Oh, Sasha, you weren’t suppose to tell her my little plan,” Krista mock-complained coquettishly.

           “Krista!” Ymir couldn’t believe the blonde was joining in with the teasing.

           “Oh, my bad, Goddess. I totally forgot Operation: jump Ymir’s bones was supposed to be a secret.”

           “You guys all suck,” the teased girl sighed.

           “Don’t be so grumpy just because we interrupted your private time,” Armin snickered. He sat on Ymir’s couch and pulled his laptop out of his bag. “We’ve got titans to kill. You can’t be upset while slaughtering man-eating giants. Anger leads to the dark side, remember? We don’t need your secret sith lord father revealing himself, then chopping your hand off before the tournament.”

           “Hmm, that would pose a problem,” Ymir agreed. She sat on the bed and pulled her laptop, which thankfully hadn’t fallen off the bed with them, over to her. She saved the research Krista had found, before opening Attack on Titan.

           Looking up, the gamer found all of her friends and Annie following her lead. Eren and Mikasa joined Armin on the couch while Sasha called dibs on the gamer chair. Annie nabbed the office chair, and the only one left standing was Krista. The blonde girl didn’t seem to mind and almost instantly sat back down on the bed next to Ymir, as if everything that happened mere minutes ago never took place.

           “Uhm, Ymir?”

           The freckled girl looked up from her screen. “Oh, you can watch if you’d like. Who knows, maybe you’ll think it’s cool and want to get the game too.”

           “Perhaps, but I actually had a question.”

           “Oh, sure! What’s up?”

           “What’s Sasha doing?”

           Ymir looked up at her brunette friend. The girl’s hoodie was on backwards and she’d filled the hood part of the pullover with Cool Ranch Doritos.

           “Er, well, you see, sometimes during a fight you don’t have time to really use your hands while eating. It’s kinda super helpful.” They watched as Sasha craned her neck down and grabbed a chip as if she was bobbing for apples. “We’ve all done it once or twice, but Sasha tends to do it every time.”

           “Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Krista admitted.

           “Before we start,” Mikasa said, her scarf pulled down. “Let us begin the jams.”

           “I Will Survive” began playing from the Asian girl’s laptop. For some reason, all the gamers decided it was the perfect song to holler along to in stressful situations, sort of like when they were fighting hordes of enemies.

           “Ready to kick some titan ass?” Ymir asked. She was greeted by the dulcet tones of her teammates yelling, “fuck yeah!”

 


	5. Princess Zelda

**Chapter 5: Princess Zelda**

            Mikasa knew from the beginning that working alone with Annie for two whole hours was going to be a pain in the ass, and she kinda predicted that about half way through she’d already have started contemplating the best way to dispose of a body.

            She hadn’t killed the girl. Well, not in reality. Mentally? Yes. Repeatedly. In more and more violent ways as the time rolled on. With each insult Annie hurled at her, she’d think up a new creative way for the blonde to meet her demise.

            None of that surprised Mikasa at all. What she didn’t know and what bothered and astonished her was the discovery she’d made yesterday- the cold, disturbing, seriously shit-tastic truth. Annie Leonhart was fucking hot.

            Like, wears glasses to read, had her hair up in a messy bun, chewing on the end of her pen kind of hot, and ever since the fucked up reality clicked in her brain, Mikasa had been having naughty librarian fantasies popping up in her head.

            She was disappointed in herself. Of all the people in the entire damn world for her to get all twitterpated and bothered by, it had to be the most annoying, stubborn, and difficult one she’d ever met. She must have tried to take over the world in a past life to have ended up deserving this kick in the ass from that bitch that calls herself karma.

            Annie fucking Leonhart. The biggest jerk Mikasa ever had the displeasure of making acquaintances with. The Joker to her Batman, the master to her Dr. Who, Rita Repulsive to her red power ranger, random vampire to her Buffy Summers, and the Bowser to her Mario.

            Mikasa must’ve been a damn masochist or something.

            “Earth to Mikasa.” Sasha waved a hand back and forth in front of her dazed friend. The sudden movement snapped the daydreaming girl awake from her fantasy.

            “Sorry, what’s going on?” Mikasa asked after adjusting her scarf.

            “Bets,” Eren stated, as if that explained anything. They were always better on one thing or another.

            “Come again?”

            “We’re taking bets on Ymir and Krista,” Armin reiterated. “Whether or not anything will happen.”

            “I’m in,” Mikasa declared, pulling out a small wad of dollars from her pocket. “How much?”

            “Twenty bucks sound good?” the blonde boy asked, fishing a twenty from his wallet. “I’d feel bad taking more of your money than that.”

            “Don’t come crying to me when you’re all out of lunch money.”

            “So who’s gonna end up owing me money? Anyone thinks Ymir will actually pull it off?” Eren asked. Mikasa laid her money on the table. When no one else moved, she glared at the girl sitting beside her.

            “Oh, alright, alright. I suppose I can sacrifice twenty bucks.” Sasha fished a few fives out of her backpack. “So I’m guessing you guys are betting on failure?”

            “The other day we were watching a movie and two people started making out. Ymir excused herself from the room because she thought the actors needed a ‘private moment.’ So, yes, I’m voting for epic failure,” the brunette boy stated.

            “Uh, same.” Armin put his twenty down.

            “Is it too late for me to change my choice?” Sasha asked, skeptical. “I mean, until the seventh grade, Ymir thought the word ‘sex’ was just someone saying ‘six’ with a funny accent.”

            “All bets are final,” Eren decided, wanting as much money as he could get. He had his eye set on a new limited edition 3ds to add to his collection.

            “I’m fairly certain she thinks French kissing is kissing someone who’s French,” Armin pointed out.

            “Twenty on it happening.” The group turned to the intruder who’d obviously been listening in on their conversation as she laid her money down on the table. Mikasa was happy her scarf hid half of her face, because Annie was really working the whole messy bun thing, and the raven haired girl’s cheeks were starting to feel pretty damn hot. “And you better hide that money soon, because your tall, freckled nerd friend is headed this way, and something tells me she wouldn’t be too amused by this.”

            Mikasa wasn’t the kind to freeze, and she didn’t, even in the presence of Annie. She collected the money, taking note not to stare at the tired looking blonde, who radiated a special aura of bitchy hotness, as she did so. It was in moments like these that her scarf came in most handy.

            For some reason unbeknownst to any of the group, Annie decided to sit down with them, despite Krista not being present. Luckily for Mikasa, Armin was to her left and Eren to her right. Unluckily for her, the spot in front of her was wide open. Annie took the open spot moments before Ymir walked up to the table.

            “Uh, good morning?” Ymir greeted, suspiciously eyeing the table’s new addition. One of these things was not like the others.

            “Krista’s talking to a teacher, and my other friends can be real douches, so I’m sticking here for now, even if I do look like a total loser who only hangs out with underclassmen. Got a problem with that?” Annie asked. The tall brunette shook her head, letting the cantankerous girl know she was totally fine with her presence. “So, about yesterday-“

            “We fell off the bed, honestly! I agree that for anyone else that’d seem like a totally bogus cover up, but this is me. Stupid, clumsy moments are just the norm when I’m involved. In fact, they’re kinda my thing. I should get it patented,” Ymir blurted out. “There was nothing pervy going on at all, I swear.”

            “Yeah, that’s nice and all, but I was actually gonna ask about the game,” Annie pointed out.

            “Oh.”

            Mikasa’s friend’s face was bright red after she had, once again, over shared.

            “Yeah, Annie, it’s not like Krista pinned Ymir down and was about to have her sex-ish way with her,” Eren teased, hoping to get a rise out of the freckled brunette. She didn’t disappoint.

            “What? Krista? No, she wouldn’t. Even if she was trying to, she’s so tiny. She couldn’t pin a fifth grader down, let alone me,” Ymir explained, frazzled. Mikasa pulled out some kinda breakfast bar her mom threw to her before leaving the house that morning and opened it. Ymir’s rambles tended to be longwinded, so she figured she might as well use the time to eat while waiting for her friend to stop talking. “Anyways, she’s not like that. Well, I don’t think she is. I don’t really know her well enough to be able to tell, I guess. Oh shit, what if she is like that and she was about to- no, no way. There’s no way. She’s not that big of a creeper.”

            “It’s always the tiny ones who are secretly super kinky,” Sasha pointed out. She then looked over at the uninterested blonde. “Isn’t that right, Annie?” The girl glared at the brunette.

            Mikasa’s shock at hearing her friend say such a thing was homicidal, as moments after the words finally processed in her brain, she began choking on her breakfast. Her brother smacked his palm hard against her back as she coughed, trying to clear her airway.

            “You okay?” Sasha asked, worried. “I used to do that a lot. Apparently inhaling your food is bad for you.”

            “Used to?” Eren asked.

            “Up yours, Titan-bait.”

            “Maybe later.”

            “I-I… yeah, I’m fine,” Mikasa replied, having pulled her scarf loose so she could breathe better. She figured mentioning that it wasn’t eating too fast that caused her spasm to happen, but the mentioning of Annie possibly being pervy probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Her friends were awesome, but they loved to tease each other and she would never, ever in all her years live that down.

            The blonde eyed Mikasa, and though she looked bored as usual, she could have sworn she saw a little bit of relief there when she realized the other girl was alright. Mikasa pulled her scarf back up, hoping anyone who noticed her red face would assume it was from earlier when her breakfast attempted to assassinate her.

            When the annoying drone of the school’s bell eventually sounded, the group dispersed and went to their different classes. Ymir spent the entire first half of school lazily taking notes while focusing more energy trying to decipher what exactly did happen yesterday when she and Krista were alone together.

            Ymir was fucking smart. Really smart. Like, if Willow Rosenberg and Hermione Granger had a secret love child, despite being from completely different fictional universes, Ymir would be that baby. She took classes most students took their senior year during her freshman year. She was brilliant, but when it came to understanding Krista and the way she was acting yesterday, Ymir was a complete and total dumbass.

            It hurt the girl to admit to herself that she just had no clue about how romantic social cues worked. She’d been scouring her brain, but the result she got made absolutely no sense.

            “You look like your head’s about to explode,” Armin noticed during their Spanish class. His friend was sprawled against her desk as she doodled. Her hair, which was usually held back in a ponytail, fell messily onto her shoulders.

            “I can’t help it, I’m trying to figure something out and it’s just not working,” Ymir replied, the circle she was lazily drawing on an otherwise blank piece of binder paper steadily grew bigger and darker.

            “Well, maybe you’re over thinking it?” the boy’s eyes followed her pencil.

            “Over thinking it?” she asked, her actions stopping. “Isn’t over thinking it kinda my signature move. I‘m not sure I could stop, even if I really wanted to.”

            “Perhaps, but sometimes the answer is really simple. We just make the problem seem more difficult.”

            “This isn’t a math problem. It’s a social interaction problem.” She filled in the circle, pressing the lead hard against the paper, making the markings darker. “We both suck at those.”

            “Krista?” the boy asked.

            “Yep, damn her and her heartbreaking smile. Damn them to Hades.”

            “Sorry, can’t help there,” he apologized. “Although I still stand by what I said. Maybe you’re thinking about this too much. Have you ever thought of trying to stop analyzing everything and, instead, just letting things happen?” The pencil lead snapped, but Ymir didn’t seem to care.

            “You mean act instead of observe?”

            “Precisely.”

            “Huh, that could work,” Ymir mused. “If I can manage it, that is.”

            “It will, trust me. I am a genius, you know.” Armin smirked. If his advice helped his friend out, perhaps it’d be worth losing twenty bucks.

            When lunch finally rolled around, Ymir and Mikasa went to their usual spot to meet their friends, but were surprised to find Annie sitting there again. Upon seeing the blonde, Mikasa noticeably stiffened. Ymir glanced at her; a quizzical eyebrow was her only acknowledgement.

            “Stomach feels funny,” Mikasa muttered. It wasn’t exactly a lie. Damn butterflies turning her stomach into a fluttering knot.

            The girls sat at the table. Ymir, as oblivious as always, took the spot next to Eren, leaving Mikasa to sit next to Annie. She cursed the freckled giant under her breath as she scooted next to the pissy blonde.

            “So,” Annie stared at the table, obviously uncomfortable, “are you two like, a couple?” She pointed back and forth between Mikasa and Ymir.

            The brunette choked on the water she was drinking, Mikasa glared, and Sasha, Armin, and Eren started snickering.

            “No. She’s p-practically my s-s-sister!” Ymir sputtered. “We’ve been best friends since we were both Krista’s height… so like, early elementary school.”

            “Then are you dating one of them?” she pointed at the other three. Their chuckles went silent as they stared at Annie in horror.

            “That’s disgusting.” Eren shivered, as though a thousand tiny spiders were crawling over him. “Super wrong on so many levels.”

            “Nightmare inducing,” Armin agreed, before adding, “No offense, Ymir.”

            “No, I’m not dating any of these jerks.” Ymir elbowed Eren in the ribs. “It’d be like incest or something. Well, not really, but it’d feel like it.”

            “Anyone?”

            “Why are you asking? Are- are you trying to pull a teen romance movie trick on me?” Ymir asked, shocked. Annie simply stared at her, obviously unimpressed by the accusation.

            “Come again?”

            “A teen romance movie trick! You know, the popular person is dared, challenged, or paid to date the weird, geek girl only to end up developing real feelings for her. Then they go on a date and everything is perfect and they kiss and the popular character, who’s usually a jock or delinquent of some sort, asks the geek to prom and it’s amazing and wonderful and they’re having a lovely time until the ugly truth is revealed. After that stuff gets kind of dodgy. Either we end up making up after you confess your true feelings and we kiss before the credits roll, or I kill you and my prom dress ends up drenched in pig’s blood,” Ymir had to catch her breath, having forgotten to breathe while explaining the workings of young adult rom-coms. There was a long silence as her shoulders heaved.

            “So what I’m getting from that random splurge of word vomit is that you’re single,” Annie deduced.

            “There’s no one,” she confirmed. “There’s never been anyone. Knowing my serious lack of skills, there’s probably never going to be anyone. It’s not like there’s a neon sign above my head telling all the ladies to please apply here to be my girlfriend.”

            “What are we signing up for?” Krista sat down next to Mikasa and across from Ymir. She dumped her backpack down on the open space beside her. “I like signing things!”

            “Uh…uhm,” Ymir stuttered, unable to think of anything to say. What was it Armin had said earlier again?

            “Computer course at the J.C,” Annie covered for her. “I didn’t really understand anything beyond that. They were talking their nerd gibberish again, and I don’t really speak loser so it was hard to follow.”

            “Bitch,” Mikasa muttered against her scarf. The insult may have been a bit strong, but she couldn’t help it. Despite Annie pretty much saying that she had no interest in Ymir, the whole conversation still bothered her. Why had Annie been so interesting in her friend’s dating status? She figured it was for Krista, but a small part of her that clawed at the pit of her stomach still didn’t like it.

            “Excuse me?” the blonde eyed Mikasa. “Want to repeat that?”

            “Err...” Mikasa adjusted her scarf. “I said ‘snitch.’ I want to be a seeker. Go Gryffindor.”

            Annie didn’t reply. Instead, she just stared Mikasa in the eye, as if she expected to find the true answer there.

            “So, we still on for today after school?” Krista asked, wondering if Ymir was still up for working on the project again.

            “Yup, sounds good,” the brunette replied, though her insides felt like they were doing cartwheels.

            The stomach twisting refused to go away as the day progressed. In P.E. class she found herself entranced by Krista, which was impressive because their gym clothes weren’t exactly flattering. Apparently Mikasa caught her spacing out multiple times while watching the blonde play volleyball. The third time Mikasa noticed this happening, she served the ball right at Ymir. Ymir, of course, wasn’t paying attention and ended up with a sore nose.

By the time school was over, she felt like she was going to be sick and was seriously contemplating cancelling their plans.

            Then she saw her.

Krista was waiting outside of the locker room, talking excitedly to Mikasa and Sasha, and she knew that even if the thought of being alone with the blonde again scared her, she was more afraid that she wouldn’t get to see her.

            Krista and Ymir walked home together with their friends. She found it difficult to pay attention to Armin’s ramblings, as he spent most of the walk excitedly explaining a new fighting strategy he wanted them all to practice for the tournament. When they reached Ymir’s home, the boy was still talking and gesticulating crazily. Mikasa, Sasha and Eren ended up having to physically drag him away. Annie hesitantly followed them.

            Afterwards, Krista followed Ymir up to her room. They continued the project from where they left off the previous day, but this time Ymir decided to sit in her gaming chair so there wouldn’t be any ‘incidents’ like last time. That was the last thing she needed right now. Moments like that got her foolish hopes up, only for them to come crashing down when she realized just how little of a chance she had.

They got a good bit of work done when the pen Krista was using ran out of ink. She shook it several times and tried to scribble big circles, but the stubborn writing utensil refused to work.

            “Hey, you got another pen?” Krista asked, tossing her used up one back into her bag.

            Ymir, who was in the middle of furiously jotting down notes, pointed towards the door by the foot of her bed. “There should be a bin in the closet.”

            Krista slipped out of her seat and walked across the room.

            While there was some clothes in there, most of the space was taken up by even more of the nerd’s geeky collection. There were massive boxes labeled “Magic” and “Pokémon.” Deciding it’d be rude to snoop, the blonde left them alone and returned to her mission of finding a pen.

            “Sorry, it’s kinda cluttered,” Ymir apologized. Krista didn’t know when the brunette did it, but the girl was now standing right behind her. She reached around Krista for a purple bin right next to the boxes and opened it. In it was a treasure trove of mechanical pencils, fountain pens, and highlighters. Krista grabbed one of the pens when something in the corner of the closet caught her eye.

            “Oh, you play?” she asked, nodding towards an acoustic guitar in the farthest corner of the tiny room. It was covered in dust and looked like it hadn’t been used in ages.

            Krista’s was forced into piano lessons as a child, but never quite got the hang of it. Eventually she was allowed to quit it, but as she grew older she began to regret it. She’d love to be able to play an instrument, any instrument really. The thought of being able to let all her emotions out through song was extremely enticing.

            “Wha? Oh, yeah, I do.” The brunette returned to her seat. Leaning her elbow against her desk, she rested her cheek against her palm. “Me, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, and Sasha actually formed a band our freshman year,” the brunette reminisced.

            “What, really? Were you guys any good?” she asked.

            “No, not at all,” Ymir laughed. “All the songs we wrote ended up being about controller blisters, bad internet connection, and super slow loading screens. We didn’t have the experience for classic love songs.”

            “I wouldn’t mind listening to that. Would you play and sing something for me?” Krista asked, smiling at Ymir in a way that made it almost impossible to reject her request. Almost.

            The look on the other girl’s face was one Krista had never seen on her before. Her eyebrows were drawn close together and a frown replaced the goofy grin she normally wore. Her eyes darkened. The brunette became lost in thought, and no response came.

            “Ymir? Her voice was a whisper. It seemed to pull the brunette out of whatever memory she was reliving.

            “Sorry about that, I totally spaced out,” the brunette replied, her usual smile returning. Krista wanted to ask what she’d been thinking about. She wanted to know what she could do to make it better. She wanted to make sure she never saw the freckled girl look that sad again, but she refrained. She didn’t know her well enough yet, and it wasn’t her place to pry. She had to be patient, unless she wanted to screw this thing up. “I’d totally do it, but I’m fairly certain the combination of my singing and playing would completely destroy your ability to hear. It’s not pretty. Your ears would probably start bleeding just from the sheer level of suckage.”

            Krista chuckled, not because she found what the brunette said to be particularly amusing, but because it seemed like it might ease the tension a bit if she just went along with the joke. She closed the closet door and was about to go back to her seat when her eyes fell on a pair of flesh-toned, rubber objects lying on the desk.

            “Oh, what are those things?” she asked, pointing at the odd items.

            “Huh?” Ymir turned in her chair to see what the blonde was talking about. “Oh, those are my ears!”

            “Come again?” Krista couldn’t have heard that right.

            “I’m gonna use them for my Link costume.”

            “Link?”

            “Yeah, from ‘The Legend of Zelda.’ You know, the hero of time? He wears a green tunic, has pointy ears, doesn’t talk, has a tendency to destroy jars.”

            “Is that a manga?”

            “No. Well, actually yes. More so there are manga books, but they came out after. ‘The Legend of Zelda’ is a series of games.”

            “And you’re going to dress up as someone from the game?”

            “Yup, all the rest of the gang’s going as game characters, too. We usually have a theme. Like one year we all went as power rangers and another year we were the sailor scouts. I still have pictures somewhere to use as blackmail. Eren and Armin had no problem with the skirts. Mikasa was the problem.”

            “Hmm, who would I be?” Krista asked, interested to hear just what kinda character Ymir would peg her for.

            “Hmm,” the girl furrowed her brow, deep in thought. “Well, if we’re going with any character from any videogame, you could probably rock a badass Sophitia. She’s from Soul Caliber, a fighting game. She’s this chick from Ancient Greece who’s charged by Hephaestus, the God of blacksmithing, forges, fire, and all that crap, to go destroy an evil sword. Anyways, you kinda look for her, except… well…”

            “Except?”

            “She’s kinda, er… blessed in certain areas.”

            “Ymir,” Krista’s expression told the brunette that she was not entertained. “Are you saying I’m not as well endowed in the chest region as she is?”

            “Well,” Ymir’s eyes darted across the room and she stared at her shoes, “most females in videogames are…er, gifted. It’s just a thing, I guess.”

            “So, what? I’m pretty much flat by comparison?” It was hard for Krista to keep herself from laughing, but she was having too much fun grilling the other girl to let herself crack now. “Wow, what a nice thing to say to your upperclassman.”

            “No! That’s not what I meant. I mean, uhm, disproportionate! A lot of them seem totally off, like they wouldn’t be able to walk properly without falling ever. You, on the other hand, would never have that problem… like at all. I mean, you have a very nice-er,” she was able to stop herself the moment she realized she was about to compliment the blonde’s chest.

            “Ymir?”

            “Yes?”

            “We’re you about to say I have a nice rack?”

            “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ymir lied. “At least not in those words.”

            “Sure,” Krista replied, not convinced. “So Sophitia, eh?”

            “No, I changed my mind. You’d be Princess Zelda.” Ymir’s change of decision had absolutely nothing to do with her own costume and wanting the tiny blonde to be her princess. Not at all. Not even a tiny bit.

            Okay, maybe she’d be okay with it.

            “From that tales of the Zelda thing you mentioned before?” the blonde asked, sitting back down on the bed, facing Ymir.

            ‘“The Legend of Zelda,’ and yes. She’s this awesome princess chick, and in one incarnation she takes on the name Sheik and is trained to pretty much be this totally badass chick ninja. Then, in other ones, she’s a pirate captain. Oh, and in “Skyward Sword” she was a super hot reincarnated Goddess who Link has to rescue.” This time Ymir didn’t bite her tongue fast enough.

            “So you think I’m a super hot reincarnated Goddess then?” Krista’s playful smile made Ymir’s chest tighten. She could feel her heart throbbing like crazy.

            “Er, I guess,” Ymir slowly got up from her chair and backed up slowly. “I mean, unless you would prefer being a super flat Sophitia.”

            If glares could kill, Ymir would have been straight up dead the moment the words left her mouth. Like, six feet under, in a coffin, tombstone and all that stuff dead. The gravestone would probably have some dirty lyric on it, thanks to her friends.

There once was a fair lass, Ymir

Who lived her life without fear

She was not very wise

And met her demise

Staring too long at Krista’s rear

 

            The brunette snapped back to reality.

“You were being so charming for a moment there, and then you had to go and ruin it by being an ass.”

            “Yeah, that happens more often with me than you’d think,” Ymir pointed out. She was an expert at the art of ruining good moments.

            “Oh, believe me, I’m not surprised in the slightest,” Krista agreed. She made a show of crossing her arms over her chest and looking away from the brunette. She was perfectly happy with her body and actually quite liked her short stature, but she loved giving people shit about it. “And here I thought you were nice.”

            “I’m not sure who told you that.” Ymir laughed. Anyone who knew her well enough knew ‘nice’ was definitely not the right word to use to describe her. “I’m not; well, not like you at least.”

            “But I’m not nice,” Krista sighed, her smile dropped a little bit. She wasn’t kind out of the goodness of her heart, not like Ymir was, despite what she might say otherwise. “Not really.”

            “You hung out with me and my friends earlier without being driven to kill us. To most people, that would make you practically angelic,” Ymir explained. “I know how annoying we can be.”

            “No, I just know genuinely good people when I see them,” the blonde shrugged.

            “They once snuck into my room and glued all my underwear together. I had to go to school with a weird bulge in the front of my pants. They’re not good people; they’re hell spawns,” Ymir recalled, frowning. Apparently Krista found the story far more amusing, because she laughed so hard she ended up squeaking. The moment the sound left her, she went silent.

            The blonde blushed so hard even her ears turned pink. Her hands shot to her mouth and she just stared at Ymir in total shock, a look the freckled girl mirrored back at her. A smirk slowly spread on the brunette’s lips.

            “What the hell was that?” Ymir teased. “You sounded like my neighbor’s dog’s squeaky toy.”

            “I don’t know, it’s never happened before,” Krista fibbed. In actuality, whenever she laughed too hard, she’d end up making a high pitched, uncontrollable chirping sound.

            “Now why don’t I believe that?” The freckled girl snickered.

            “Sh-shut up!”

            “Hey, stuttering and not being able to talk right is my thing. No stealing,” Ymir pointed out and Krista stuck her tongue out at her.

            The girls fell into a comfortable silence and the blonde let out a content sigh and laid back on the bed, her legs hanging off the side. She stretched her arms, causing her shirt to ride up slightly, exposing her lean stomach. The brunette’s eyes zeroed in on the soft, porcelain skin she found there.

            Her brain temporarily became a fog, kinda like that time she stayed up for three days straight during an online battle. Incidentally, Eren picked the same time to start watching ‘The Walking Dead’ and nearly wet himself when he thought his friend, seemingly emotionless and making weird grunting sounds instead of talking, appeared to have been turned into a zombie.

            “Not many people can make me laugh like that,” Krista mused, smiling and closing her eyes. At home, everything always had to be so prim and proper. It was suffocating. Being with Ymir, in the warm house, with the sassy grandma, surrounded by the nerds and Annie- it was the kind of home she’d always wanted.

            Though Krista was more than happy to lay in silence, Ymir began wondering if being quiet for so long was okay or not and wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do about it. Remembering Armin’s advice from earlier, she pushed herself out of her chair.

            Act, don’t observe.

            Ymir carefully settled herself down next to Krista, trying not to disturb her. When the other girl didn’t move, the freckled girl knocked her knee against the blonde’s. “You know, with that laugh of yours that may be a good thing,” she teased.

            “Ymir?” the blonde asked, not moving.

            “Yep?”

            “You’re an ass.”

            “Don’t flatter me, you’ll make me blush,” the brunette laughed. Krista’s eyes fluttered opened. She heard Ymir laugh many times, but there was something different about it this time that pulled her in.

            She took her time studying the other girl before she sat up. The freckled girl, puzzled, began fiddling with the sheet beneath her. The way the blonde was looking at her made her anxious.

            Krista drew closer, searching Ymir’s golden eyes, noticing for the first time the small speckles of brown and black in them. They were beautiful, yet strong at the same time, much like the girl.

            “But I like making you blush,” the blonde spoke, breathily. Krista’s stare didn’t falter.

            If her objective was to turn Ymir’s entire face a bright shade of red, she succeeded. Her gaze flicked from piercing blue eyes to the crimson lips of a playful smile. The brunette gulped. Why was Krista Lenz, the single most attractive being on earth, staring at her like that?

            The brunette really couldn’t fathom anyone, especially someone like Krista, being attracted to her. There was no way Krista’s heart sped up like Ymir’s did, no way she drifted off in class thinking about her, and no way she replayed all their daily interactions over and over in her head while lying down in bed. Not being able to talk to Ymir wouldn’t leave the blonde thinking that her entire day had been a complete waste, and Krista definitely didn’t spend all math class absent mindedly doodling Ymir’s name like the brunette had done, all while wondering how a single person could be so breathtakingly, painfully beautiful.

            No, Ymir didn’t dare believe herself special.

            “Ymir?” the blonde’s soft voice asked.

            Krista was close. Too close. So close the brunette could barely breathe.

Armin didn’t mention anything about this.

            Krista’s hand was on Ymir’s leg, and the brunette was surprised to realize she had no idea when that happened. She stared at it, unable to tear her eyes away. It was like her brain was running on a delay.

            The blonde was pressed closer against her now and Ymir’s heart felt like it was about to claw its way out of her chest. Could Krista feel it? When gentle fingertips softly pressed against the freckled girl’s jaw, pulling her attention to those inviting blue eyes, simply breathing became unbearably painful. Ymir’s entire body tensed and there was nothing she could do to control it. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to say. Krista was looking at her in a way she’d only ever seen in her dreams. Everything, her brain, her body, the rapid pounding that thundered throughout her entire body stilled, and she knew nothing.

            But Krista sensed something wasn’t right.

            When she looked into Ymir’s eyes, Krista saw panic, apprehension, and an animalistic need to run away. The girl was looking at her with such confusion, as though she didn’t understand what was happening… or like she could bring herself to believe it. She saw this expression before many times.

            She saw it when her grandmother adamantly denied her, saying she ‘wasn’t one of those.’ She saw it when she made the mistake of confiding in a teacher at her previous school. She saw it every time her step mother looked at her, and she saw it after telling her ex girlfriend that she loved her.

           She never expected to see it on the kind, bumbling, so fucking adorable it hurt Ymir. That was the last place she thought she’d ever see it.

           She was wrong. She’d been wrong from the beginning. She allowed her imagination to run away with her and mistook platonic friendship for attraction and possibly more.

           But she was so sure this time…

            She fucked up. She fucked up big.

            “Ymir, I’m sorry,” the blonde dropped her shaking hand and slowly backed away from the girl. There was no reply, no movement, no laugh with Ymir saying, ‘don’t worry about it, Short Stuff.’ Like an overworked computer, the brunette was frozen.

            A familiar pain blossomed in the pit of Krista’s stomach, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She swore she’d never do this again. She tried so hard, but with Ymir she was certain. There was no doubt at all. She was so sure.

            “K-kr-krista?” The way Ymir spoke made the blonde feel ten times worse. Her name was tainted, laced and dripping with trepidation and fear.

            She pushed herself off the bed and grabbed her notebook. She shoved it in her backpack and took a quick second to steady herself, her fingertips digging into the zipper. She pulled the bag onto her shoulder and turned to face the other girl, but couldn’t bring herself to look directly at her.

            “I really should get going,” Krista decided, though her voice shook. That seemed to bring Ymir out of whatever horror she must have been in, because upon hearing that Krista was leaving, she snapped to face the blonde.

            “No, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“ Ymir got to her feet, she was about to take a step towards the girl when a stern hand stopped her.

            “Don’t apologize,” she interrupted. Ymir was too kind, and it only made everything hurt all the more. “I shouldn’t have done that. Not when I didn’t know for sure,” Krista’s voice dropped. She nervously tugged on a lock of her golden hair until she felt a dull pain. “I won’t bother you anymore. I promise.”

            Before Ymir could fish out the right words to say to make everything better, the blonde had disappeared. She didn’t chase after her. She just sank down into her bed, completely numb, staring at the green door from which Krista Lenz, the only girl to ever hold such power over her, vanished.


	6. Ellen Ripley

**Chapter 6: Ellen Ripley**

            _The librarian peeked over her thick rimmed glasses, her clear, blue eyes radiating disapproval. Her thick, blonde locks were held up in a messy bun, keeping her hair out of her eyes as she peered over the latest book she was reading. The rubber band she used obviously didn’t take its job too seriously, as the woman’s side bangs almost instantly freed themselves from its clutches. Clicking her tongue, she tucked the unruly locks behind her ear._

_Mikasa, who watched the blonde from across the room, wanted nothing more than to pull the rubber band away, freeing her beautiful golden locks. She wanted to take away the glasses so she could clearly see those angry, aqua eyes. She wanted to rip the book from her hands so she’d be forced to focus on only her._

_When the librarian’s glare fell upon the girl with the red scarf, Mikasa’s lips pulled into a half smile. Now that she had the blonde’s attention, it was time to force her hand. Without really caring which one she grabbed, Mikasa pulled a book from the shelf, only to return it a couple seconds later, but purposely in the wrong spot. As she predicted, the librarian’s eyes narrowed and she arose from her seat. She heard the woman’s audible sigh as she slipped a bookmark between two pages, and placed the book gingerly on the desk._

_There was an air of confidence to the lady as she neared Mikasa. The raven haired girl could tell, just from the way the blonde carried her body, that she had complete and utter confidence in herself. It was fucking sexy._

_“Excuse me, Miss.” The words that slipped from the librarian’s lips, though technically polite, sounded irritated and vaguely like a threat. The blonde grabbed the book and slipped it in its correct spot. She didn’t need to run through the titles to find where it was supposed to go, she just knew. She knew this library better than she knew her own home, and knew exactly where everything was meant to be._

_Before the blonde could slip away, Mikasa grabbed the book again, and then stepped in front of the spot where it belonged. When the aggravated woman saw Mikasa’s playful smile, she massaged her temple softly, closing her eyes and grimacing._

_Mikasa watched the blonde, unable to pull her eyes away. She felt an odd tug, and felt the book pulled from her hands. The librarian’s eyes flicked open, and when her blue eyes looked down at the volume in her hands, she couldn’t hide the tiny smile that forced itself upon her lips._

_She pressed the book into Mikasa’s chest, smoothing her flat palm against it. The librarian leaned in close, her lips grazing against Mikasa’s ear. The blonde’s breath was warm against the girl’s bare skin._

_“Next time you try and hit on me in my library, try and stay away from the books about sexually transmitted diseases.”_

_The blonde backed away and Mikasa caught the book entitled, “Why Do I Itch Down There?” accompanied by the picture of a very shocked girl peeking into her pants. Slightly horrified, she looked up just in time to see the librarian peek over her shoulder, making sure Mikasa watched as she walked away._

* * *

 

“Ackerman… Ackerman! Snap the fuck out of it. You’re the nerd. I’m not the one who’s supposed to be left to do all this shit by myself, you know,” Annie growled, waking Mikasa from her daydream.

Gone was the library with its countless books, bookshelves, and readers, substituted instead by the long table Mikasa sat at in her parents’ kitchen. Multiple books lay open before her and at some point during her fantasy, her pencil had rolled off the table. She bent over and picked it up, dropping it on her notebook. Just how long had she been out of it?

            “Oh, I’m sorry, are you being forced to actually do your own work for once?” Mikasa chided, pulling her scarf down before rubbing the back of her hand against her tired eyes. The annoyed blonde glowered at the raven haired girl. At some point Annie’s glasses had slipped down slightly and flashbacks to her earlier daydream made Mikasa’s mouth go dry.

            “Oh please, I’ve never relied on someone else to do my work for me. I may be a bitch, but I’m not gonna take advantage of people like that. I do have some pride,” Annie replied, sneering.

            “Ah, so you’re a noble jerk. How interesting.”

            “Bite me, Ackerman.”

            “Save it for the bedroom, Blondie.” Mikasa was hoping to get some kinda reaction from the exasperated girl, but failed. That dame was a master of the poker face. Even the nickname was met by a lazy roll of the eyes.

            “You wi-“ Annie was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She dipped her hand into her pocket and grabbed the offending cell. Its frantic ringing silenced when one of the blonde’s lean fingers jabbed at the screen. “What?” she questioned of the person on the other line.

            Mikasa went back to her notes, allowing Annie some privacy. She began jotting down important dates and interesting facts, knowing she’d need them for the report later. She had completely immersed herself in her current mission, when the sound of the blonde telling her caller that she’d ‘be there in a sec’ stole her attention.

            When Mikasa looked up from her notebook, the first thing she noticed was Annie’s troubled expression as the girl continued to stare down at her phone. Mikasa set her pencil down and leaned back in her chair.

            “Everything okay?” she asked, hesitantly. Annie was shoving her journal, pencil, and books into her bag. The blonde nodded, but didn’t look up at Mikasa.

            “I have to go.” She continued stuffing things in her backpack as she spoke. She heaved the heavy bag onto her back and started walking towards the front door. “Sorry to skip out on you like this.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” Mikasa shrugged. She watched from the door as Annie crossed the street, meeting her tiny, blonde friend. The usually irritable girl grabbed the other girl’s shoulders and peered down to look at her. Krista shook her head and motioned down the road. Annie, defeated, nodded and the two started walking along the street, further and further from the Jaeger’s house.

            Mikasa was worried, but not so worried that she couldn’t steal a quick peek at her nemesis’s ass before closing the door.

* * *

            Krista remained true to her word. She hadn’t spoken to Ymir all week.      

            The brunette had tried on several different occasions to smile at her or say hi, but the blonde would almost instantly be distracted by something, seemingly not seeing her, or vanish the moment Ymir came near. Even if she had the opportunity, she had no idea what she’d say. She wasn’t entirely certain what happened. It was like she was the invisible woman.

            Ymir’s character was currently being torn apart by titans. It was actually quite graphic, and had she not already died five times in the past hour, she would have been frantically hitting buttons. Right now, however, she was too distracted to focus on the game.

            “Ymir, what the hell?” Sasha complained. “At least try. I just tripped over your dismembered arm.”

            “Sorry, I can’t focus,” the girl sighed, rubbing the palm of her hand against her eyes as she waited for her character to respawn. The scout’s limbs were scattered around the screen, smoke sizzling from them. It was going to take awhile.

            “No shit,” Eren muttered, not looking up from his screen as his fingers rapidly clacked at his keyboard.

            “Eren.” Mikasa glared at her brother, saying his name as if it were a warning that he’d better shut up. Usually he took her scolding more seriously.

            “Come on, she’s practically been a lifeless drone all week, like a zombie. It’s getting really fucking depressing. I mean, I can’t believe you’d be this shook up over some chick, even if it is Krist-“ the boy was cut off when his sister whacked the back of his head.

            “I’m gonna take a quick break,” Ymir decided. She loudly closed her laptop, removed her headphones, tossed them aside, and stood up, stretching out her legs. She plopped her computer down on the desk, next to Sasha’s open one, and made a B-line for the door. “I’ll be right back.”

            Closing the door behind her, she began walking down the stairs. All the downstairs lights were off and Ymir sighed in relief, realizing Gran must’ve stepped out. She loved the old bag, but she needed a moment alone. She sat at their kitchen table and collapsed onto the old, wooden surface.

            It felt like some monstrous being was grasping her heart, its gnarly claws sinking in, getting ready to rip it, still beating, from her chest. If just having a crush on someone could hurt this bad, she couldn’t imagine what loving someone and going through this must feel like.

            Lazily drawing scribbles on the table with her finger, Ymir tried as hard as she could to not think about anything at all. She had no idea just how much time had gone by when she noticed a familiar presence in the room. She didn’t move or say anything, choosing instead to ignore her friend. She was in no mood to talk or try and explain how she felt.

            “So,” Eren cleared his throat, “It has been pointed out to me that I may have been a jerk.”

            “Mikasa send you down here?” she asked, scratching at the table beneath her with the nail of her pointer finger.

            “The entire lot did, actually. Apparently I’m supposed to apologize for being, and I quote, ‘the biggest bitch that ever bitched in the history of all bitches.’”

            “Oh,” Ymir muttered. “Don’t sweat it.”

            He didn’t reply. Instead, after what seemed to be a minute or two passed by, the boy pulled out the seat beside her and sat down. He rested his hand on her back, patting it awkwardly in a bizarre sign of reassurance.

            “So what happened?” he inquired. Ymir had remained relatively silent on the happenings of that day when everything went to hell. “And don’t do that rambling thing you do. I just need a short summary or something. No longwinded explanations. Just… you know, what’s got you in the dumps?”

            “Krista almost kissed me, or, at least, I thought she was going to.”

            “Shit,” Eren murmured, realizing how close he’d gotten to losing the bet.

            “Wha?”

            “Er…nothing. Continue,” the boy covered, realizing how close he came to slipping up and mentioning the bet the rest of the gang had going.

            “She was about to kiss me, but then she just kind of stopped. And, well, she looked so damn sad all of a sudden. She started apologizing and said something about how she shouldn’t have done it when she didn’t know for sure and that she wasn’t gonna bother me anymore. She ended up leaving right after that.”

            Eren nodded as he followed everything she said. When she finished, he furrowed his brow, drumming his fingers against his chin.

            “I could be wrong, but Ymir…”

            “Yes?”

            “You’re a real dumb fuck sometimes,” he concluded.

            Ymir peered at the boy though her body still refused to let her move too much. “Wow, I can feel your sincerity in the super deep regions of my heart. I feel all warm and fuzzy now. All my problems have been solved. Thank you so much for your words of support and wisdom.”

            “Look, I know I can be a real asshole sometimes,” Eren acknowledged.

            “Sometimes?”

            “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I know I can be, and I’m probably the last person who would follow this advice if I was told to do it myself, but you need to go talk to her. You need to find out for sure what happened, because I’m fairly certain this was a huge misunderstanding.”

            “A misunderstanding?” Ymir bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. A misunderstanding would actually make a lot of sense. It wasn’t like she’d never come up with the idea that this all could have just been a mix-up from the beginning, but despite knowing that, she still had no idea what she was supposed to do to fix it. “That could definitely be it.”

            “No shit, Sherlock. How is it that you completely decimate me at every test we’re given, yet you can be this stupid sometimes.”

            “Hey, that was a bit harsh.” Ymir frowned. To her knowledge, of her small group of friends, none of them got any closer to having a significant other than her, so they really had no room to talk.

            “Get your head out of your ass. She likes you, for some strange, demented reason. Apparently she’s into freckled fuck nuggets that can’t walk a straight line without tripping over their own damn feet,” Eren advised, frustrated.

            “But then why’d she stop?”

            “Depends, were you looking at her with that same clueless, terrified look that is usually on your face whenever she’s around you?” The sarcastic reply was met by an angry scowl.

            “I don’t know. It’s not like I can see my own face all the time, Eren,” Ymir growled.

            “You should be asking her why she stopped then, not me.”

            “But she won’t even talk to me. She’s avoiding me,” Ymir ran a shaking hand through her hair. Irritated by how much this was affecting her, she slipped the hand in her pocket. “She said she wasn’t going to bother me anymore, but now she’s just completely ignoring my existence. I’m like a Krista-only pariah. Getting a moment alone with her now, let alone enough time to sort all this out, would be impossible.”

            “Wouldn’t you do the same if you were rejected like that?” Eren asked, blurting the words out before he thought them through. Ymir’s eyes snapped comically fast at him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the girl was trying to stare straight past his eyes and into his brain.

            “Re-rejected?”

            “Yup. She thinks you don’t give a shit,” the boy shrugged. “I mean, you didn’t even go after her.”

            “But I do give a shit,” Ymir declared, jumping up from her seat. Her chair fell to the floor behind her, but her brain was working on overdrive and she didn’t notice the loud clang as wood met floor. “I give a whole lot of shits.”

            “Well tell her that. Make her listen. Just, you know, try and put it a little more eloquently than that. Giving ‘a whole lot of shits’ isn’t exactly a Shakespeare worthy confession.”

            “But how do I make her-“ A sudden, brilliant, terrifying thought came to Ymir’s mind. A blonde, blue eyed idea, but not the blonde she’d come to have such intense feelings for.

            Annie. She had to talk to Annie.

            “It would appear your brain is starting to work again,” he observed, before adding, “Good thing, too. You tend to be a massive pain in the ass, so you really need to emphasize what good traits you have.”

            “I-I think I know what I need to do.” A slow smile formed on Ymir’s lips.

            “Good, just… just say all that honest shit. Let her know how you feel,” the boy advised. He mentally kissed his twenty bucks goodbye. “Just don’t be too honest. Keep the mentioning of your creeper stalker tendencies to a minimum.”

            “I’ll try, but sometimes words just come out and my brain is all ‘ah!’ but my mouth is all ‘fuck this, I’m gonna make this shit worse.”’

            “I’ve noticed,” Eren laughed as he got up from his seat. He’d almost left the room when he stopped in his tracks. He looked over at his bumbling friend who seemed deep in thought. He hated interrupting, but there was something he had to question her about. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

            “Uh, sure,” Ymir answered, wearily. “But if it’s creepy I may not answer.”

            “Does Krista know you’re gay?” he asked. His friend blinked at him a couple times, her head tilted to the side and her brow furrowed.

            “Isn’t it pretty damn obvious? I’m fairly certain I radiate rainbows. I’m a walking lesbian stereotype.”

            Eren shook his head and sighed, figuring Ymir really might be the dumbest smart person in the universe. “Just tell her, and while you’re at it, quit it with this whole, ‘she’d never want me’ bullshit. It’s getting old. She may be out of your league, at least in terms of high school hierarchy, but if you want her then do something about it. It’d be better to say something and possibly be rejected and embarrassed than to not do shit and wallow in it for the rest of your high school life. When you wallow, you suck at gaming, and when you suck at gaming, it pisses me the fuck off. I want that tournament prize, so stop being a baby and talk to her. Actually act like yourself, the sarcastic badass who’s never been defeated in a fighting game by me before, instead of being this pathetic dork you turn into”

            “O-okay.”

            “You’re my sister. I know we’re not blood, but it’s the same with Mikasa. You’re my sister and I love you. Now get your head out of your ass.”

            After giving his final words of advice, Eren left. The freckled girl sat silently at the table feeling far more hopeful than she had been when she first came down. The idea of her being okay just seeing Krista at school like she had been up until a couple weeks ago was laughable now. Back then it would have been fine. She was an intangible desire far beyond Ymir’s reach.

            But then she got to know her.

            She spent the last couple weeks making her laugh, being a clumsy fool in front of her, and getting to know her better. While ‘The Goddess’ was perfection defined, the Krista Lenz she’d gotten to know was flawed. She had insecurities just as Ymir did, yet Ymir would take that girl, the girl who teased her relentlessly while they researched and talked about school, over the illusion of a perfect being her own mind had made up any day

            Krista was fucked up, flawed, and freakishly fantastic, and Ymir would be damned if this was how things between them would end. If she wanted to be with her, she’d have to stop giving into fear. She’d have to tell the dread to go fuck itself, potential disaster be damned.

            She picked up the fallen chair and left the kitchen. Come Monday she’d have to face the terror that was being honest, but for now she had some serious titan ass to kick and a few friends to redeem herself to.

* * *

            The first day Ymir talked to Krista she had been running late because she spent the whole night before playing A.O.T. This time she was late for a completely different reason: nerves. They made sleep impossible and left her feeling nauseous as she entered the school.

            Her friends were quiet as she sat down, which was probably a first for them. She saw their nervous glances, full of questions, and the occasional nod. The tense atmosphere was not helping in the least.

            “So, you okay?" Sasha finally asked. Potato Girl seemed far more interested in the straw wrapper in her hand than she’d usually be.

            “You mean aside from feeling like there’s an alien about to rip itself out of my stomach? I’m fine,” Ymir replied, jabbing a fist into her side because, for some odd reason, it felt like that relieved the pain a little bit. Sasha winced and offered her a comforting smile.

            “That would suck, but it’d look pretty damn cool. No worries, Ellen Ripley will avenge you.”

            “Armin!” Sasha scolded. “Not helping.” Armin hunched his shoulders and looked down at the table. They’d all agreed to be as helpful and positive as possible for their friend, but it appeared he was failing. His best friend patted his back.

            “Still gonna do this?” Eren asked, taking his eyes off Armin and smiling at the freckled girl sitting across from him. “Because Armin has twenty bucks on you chickening out.” The blonde boy threw a sunflower seed at the other boy’s head, but Sasha snatched it out of the air and popped it into her mouth.

            “So does Sasha!” Armin countered, doing his best to not fall victim to his friend’s wrath.

            “Do you guys really have to bet on everything?” Ymir groaned. “This is kinda a big deal for me, you know.”

            “Is that a yes or a no?” Eren eyed her, wondering if she’d have to befall a sunflower seed flinging vengeance a second time as well.

            As if on cue, Ymir spotted two small blondes walking down the hall, headed to their next classes. Perhaps it was her imagination, or just wishful thinking, but she could’ve sworn Krista glanced their way. Her heart throbbed so hard, there was no way around it, nor did she wish there was. The sensation that pulsed through her upon seeing the girl told her what her answer would be.

            “Yes, I’m still planning on going through with this,” she confirmed, smirking at Eren. “After all, she thinks I have a nice ass.”

* * *

 

            As she expected, Krista disappeared the moment Ymir began approaching the two blondes. One moment she was there, and the next she had disappeared into a sea of students. All that was left was a rather annoyed looking Annie. She looked tired and as if she’d had to deal with quite a lot the past week.

            “What do you guys want now?” she sighed. “Organs are off the table.”

            You guys? What’d she mean by that?

            Ymir peeked over her shoulder to find her red scarf clad friend standing silently behind her. The chick really had some freakishly feline ninja skills.

            “I was wondering if you’d, err… possibly be willing to help me out with something,” Ymir confided. Annie laughed, seemingly amused by what she had just said. She shook her head and smirked, staring the brunette directly in the eye. Ymir had no choice but to hold the eye contact, despite how uncomfortable and prickly skinned it made her feel.

            “You… you want a favor from me?” Annie scoffed. “That’s rich. I have no idea what you did, because Krista won’t talk to me about it, but she’s been depressed for a week. Whenever she sees you, she looks like she’s gonna cry her damn eyes out. Whenever you come near, she ditches me and leaves me to deal with you nerds. Screw you and screw whatever favor it is you need.” The blonde turned on her heel and began walking away from the two geeks, making sure to flip them off over her shoulder as she made her way down the hall.

            “Well that was rude,” Mikasa’s muffled voice pointed out. Annie’s entire body snapped around so fast, Ymir was surprised she didn’t get whiplash.

            “What was that? What the hell did you just say to me this time, you little-“

            Mikasa knew she had to defuse the situation fast, but rhymes were never her strong suit. She racked her brain, pulled down her scarf, and blurted out the first thing that came to her. “Er… I wanna… can I paint you nude?” the girl practically shouted.

            The awkward silence that followed must’ve lasted for a good couple minutes. Several passing students heard the request, and the trio remained unmoving, waiting for the crowd to disperse.

            On the outside, Mikasa looked calm and collected. It was as if her question were as every day as “What’s your favorite color?” and “How’re you doing?” She looked as though she was patiently watching Annie, awaiting some kind of answer, be it yes or no.

            Internally she was screaming. Like, full on bloody murder, Ron Weasley spotting a spider screaming.

            After the thick cloud of students moved on, Annie hastened back to her spot, standing in front of Mikasa and Ymir.

            “What the fuck was that?” the blonde sputtered, her voice barely more than a whisper this time.

            “Hey, it got you to stop, didn’t it?” Mikasa asked, smirking. As long as she played it off like it was nothing, she’d be fine.

Mikasa would have thought the pissy girl had been frozen by the blast of a freeze ray had it not been for her furious blinking.

            “What do you want?” Annie eventually asked, not sure how else to respond. “What is this favor that you need so badly?

            Ymir was about to answer when Mikasa silenced her.

            “Look at this awkwardly tall mass of freckles standing in front of you,” Mikasa ordered, waving her arm in her friend’s direction. “You haven’t known her long, but does she seem like the type who would intentionally hurt Krista? I mean, really. She turns into a useless lump whenever she sees her. She practically drools whenever The Goddess is nearby. It’s crazy embarrassing.”

            “Hey!” Ymir glared at her friend. She knew the girl was trying to make a point, but she wished she could do it some other way.

            “Well, that’s true,” Annie agreed, looking over the nerd, as if her appearance told her everything she needed to know.

            “Jerks,” the freckled girl muttered, crossing her arms over her pink power ranger uniform shirt. “I’m not that bad… not all the time, at least.”

            “I’ve seen you walk into a tree because you got distracted looking at her,” Mikasa mentioned, looking at her friend with a expression that seemed to say, ‘c’mon, tell me I’m wrong.’

            “Touché.”

            “Honestly, you totally fucking up and accidently offending someone makes a lot of sense.” Annie realized. “Like, possibly an everyday occurrence.”

            This time Ymir didn’t put up a fight. It was true; she knew she had the social graces of a child raised by dodo birds, but this time none of that mattered. There was a girl, an amazing, kind, silly, sad, funny, sweet, beautiful girl, and for some reason she liked being around Ymir. Ymir hurt that girl, and she’d be damned if she didn’t make it right, even if it meant owning up to dozens of embarrassing moments.

            “So what is it exactly you want from me?” the blonde asked, ready to get to the point of this whole dialogue they were having. “I suppose I may help you, but I’m not doing anything to betray my friend, though.”

            “I just need you to pass on a message. Nothing sketchy, I swear,” Ymir promised. “I just want you to ask her something for me.”

            For a long while, there was no acknowledgement that Annie heard the request. Finally, after Ymir uttered a simple, “please,” she nodded.

            “Fine.”

* * *

 

            Unlike the days where Ymir wished school would last longer, today her classes seemed never ending. Staring at the clock as the seconds passed by didn’t help in any of her previous classes, and when she did see Krista, the girl showed no hint that she got the message Ymir had asked her friend to deliver. A couple times Ymir caught Annie’s gaze, but they only exchanged puzzled looks, neither one knowing what was going on in the girl’s head. If only she could pull a Charles Xavier and read her mind.

            In Math there was silence and the blonde didn’t even look at her once. In Art, she remained totally and completely entranced by a drawing the entire time. In P.E. she was placed in a different basketball group than Ymir, but the freckled nerd had a feeling that even if they had been put together, Krista would have managed to figure out some way to avoid her. The uncertainty of it all was killing driving her crazy.

            The blonde changed quickly in the locker rooms, and practically sprinted out before Ymir had a chance to stop her. The brunette finished taking off her gym clothes and slipped on her every day outfit. She tossed the shirt and shorts into her cubby, closed it, and clasped the lock. Leaning against the cold metal of the row of lockers, Ymir took a moment to steady her nerves.

            The cool surface felt heavenly against her hot skin. The rest of the room was musky and the scent of sweat and dirty clothes hung in the air. Metallic thuds echoed against the walls as her peers finished packing up. Soon she was the only one left in the hot locker room. Taking a final deep breath, Ymir grabbed her bag and heaved it onto her back.

            With a final glance over her shoulder, she said goodbye to the hot, claustrophobia inducing, but safe space, and to the fear that had been holding her back. After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped outdoors. The fresh air hit her the moment she was free of the confining room, and she knew she was ready.

* * *

 

            As she neared the table her and her friends often sat at during lunch, break, and while they waited for classes to start, Ymir’s suspicions and the one thing she’d been fearing all day were confirmed. Krista wasn’t there.

            She knew this was a possibility… a big possibility. That despite Annie passing on the message that Ymir wanted to meet with Krista at the geek’s favorite spot, the girl may not show. The tiny blonde’s behavior all day should have clued her in, but her heart still sank upon realization.

            Ymir pulled her bag off, dropping it onto the floor against her feet as she sat down, her back resting against the table. She breathed in deeply, stared at her dirt-clad Converse, and waited. If it meant Krista might show up, the freckled girl would linger all day.

            Ten minutes passed by, then twenty.

            She had homework in her bag, her 3ds, and her phone in her pocket, but she didn’t make a move for any of them. She was too distracted by her own thoughts to do anything other than think about what she would do if the blonde didn’t show. Anyways, when there were long waiting scenes in movies, the hero never whipped out a portable game and started hopping around a screen as a super jumpy plumber. It killed the dramatic effect and just looked super lame. Ymir refused to look super lame before apologizing to The Goddess.

Thirty minutes, forty-five.

            Ymir remained in her seat. Glancing up at the main gates of the school, she knew leaving would be far harder than waiting longer.

            She concentrated her mind on the ticking of her wristwatch.

            An hour passed by.

            She turned around, crossed her arms on top of the bench’s table, and laid her head down. She let out a content sigh as she accidentally allowed sleep to overtake her.

            Forty-seven minutes later, Ymir let out a tired groan as her sleep-filled eyes flickered open. She smiled at the blonde sitting next to her, and nearly fell back to sleep when realization dawned on her.

            Krista was sitting right next to her. Right. Fucking. Next. To. Her.

            She attempted to scramble to her feet, but somehow ended up falling backwards, her back thudding against the cold pavement and her legs shooting upwards, tangling themselves in the bench she’d been sitting at. Ymir mentally cursed herself before noticing the hand offered to her. She took Krista’s small hand, and pulled herself to her feet.

            “You alright?” the smaller girl inquired. Ymir nodded, dusting her pants off. So much for not looking super lame.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” she responded. “Just slowly losing what little dignity I have left. So, you know… the usual.”

            “Good… about you being okay that is.” Krista smiled a little, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, and said nothing else. Ymir was starting to really hate awkward silences.

            “So, uh, hi,” Ymir greeted, unable to remember what she had wanted to say. She wracked her brain, but came up with nothing.

            “Annie said you wanted to meet me here?”

            “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did,” the brunette laughed nervously. She pointed behind her at the bench. “I’m sorry I fell asleep. I hope you weren’t waiting long. I didn’t really get much sleep last night and I didn’t think I’d go passing out like that-“

            “I didn’t wait long,” Krista shrugged.

            “Oh.” Ymir could think of no other reply.

            This wasn’t going well. For the past forty-eight hours she’d been going over what she needed to say over and over in her head, but now that she was standing in front of the girl that pretty much drove her crazy on a daily basis, all the pretty little words she’d been practicing floated out of her brain and disappeared into the empty, silent space between them.

            “I, uhm, I need you to turn around or not look at me or something,” Ymir beseeched, earning a puzzled look. She mentally damned herself for blurting the words out without explaining.

            “Excuse me?” Krista’s eyes narrowed and she stared at Ymir as if the girl had just asked the most bizarre question she’d ever heard.

            “Your eyes are insanely blue right now and they’re distracting. When I stand here looking at you like this all I can think about is how pretty you are and how I’m an idiot for having hurt you, even if it was all a misunderstanding caused by my constant state of obliviousness.” The words come out crazy fast and Ymir wasn’t sure if Krista caught it all. She took a deep breath and tried again. “Krista, I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

            “Look, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me or anything,” Krista noted, adjusting her bag. “You’re not that kind of person. I guess I- I just didn’t think you’d be so appalled when I tried to kiss you is all. I didn’t think you’d react that way. I mean, I get not feeling the same, that’s fine of course, but being so disgusted-”

            “Appalled? What? And the kiss… you really did try to kiss me then?” Ymir interrupted. Krista just said it. She had tried to kiss Ymir. That could have been the freckled girl’s first kiss.

            If Ymir hadn’t thought it would freak out the blonde, she would have slapped herself.

            “I really should get going,” Krista replied, attempting to step around the tall brunette. This was all even harder than she thought it was going to be.

She only managed to take a few short steps when Ymir’s voice called to her.

            “Krista, stop. Please?” the girl uttered. The desperation in her voice pulled at Krista’s heart.

            “This is hard for me,” Krista confessed “I can’t really express how much talking about this sucks right now.”

            Ymir slipped behind the blonde and reached for the girl’s shoulder, but hesitated. She almost let her keep walking; afraid of hurting Krista even more, but instead she pushed all the negative feelings from her mind. There were words that still needed to be said, and after that, after Ymir explained herself, then Krista could make up her mind on what she wanted, and Ymir would respect that choice. If she wanted to stay, that’d be great. If she decided to leave, well, it’d suck, but she’d honor the girl’s wishes.

            Unlike Krista, Ymir was already considered a complete loser at school, and while she abhorred being embarrassed in front of people, she was willing to risk it now. She had nothing to lose in trying, and something very precious to gain if she succeeded.

            Her hand gently, but firmly rested itself on Krista’s shoulder. It was small beneath her palm, much unlike her own.

            “I wasn’t appalled. I wasn’t disgusted. I wasn’t any random synonym for those words. I was just freaking out in a dramatic inner monologue kinda way, but not a bad kind of freaking out. I just- I was shocked. I never would have thought in like, my wildest dreams, that someone like you would have any interest in someone like me… let alone try and k-ki-kiss me.”

            “You really don’t think enough of yourself,” Krista scolded, and Ymir laughed. That was definitely an understatement.

            “I know. I’m working on it. It’s kinda a new thing for me,” Ymir insisted. There was a long silence before the brunette added, “If you haven’t noticed already… well, you make me nervous… like a showed up to school in my underwear nightmare kind of way. I can’t think straight and I end up rambling on and on like an idiot. It doesn’t help that I’m fairly certain my phone’s possessed by a super horny ghost, what with it constantly playing kinky music at the worst possible times. Even now I’m doing the whole word spew thing.”

            “You’re doing fine,” Krista reassured. Her hand found Ymir’s and held onto it tightly.

            “Over the week I was practicing this long speech I was planning to say. It was like some eloquent shit right out of a movie or something, it was damn beautiful, but now you’re just getting a bit of a random spurting out of word vomit, which is okay because that’s me. I’m not fancy words and epic apologies. I’m just a geek who can’t seem to talk right, is allergic to kiwis, and who would be willing to say just about anything right now because I really, really miss you and I don’t want you to stay away from me.”

             “You really weren’t put off by me being gay then?” Krista asked hesitantly. Ymir almost chuckled.

             “Not at all. I promise.”

             “I’m sorry I automatically assumed that was the case,” the blonde apologized, shocking Ymir a little.

             “Uh, don’t worry about it.” Ymir didn’t think Krista had anything to apologize for. “I should have gone after you and explained… or at least to tell you I didn’t want you to avoid me. I just, you know, was kinda in a ‘what the hell just almost happened, and why does The Goddess want to kiss someone like me’ daze.” When the brunette finished explaining, the smaller girl laughed and shook her head.

            So,” Krista turned to face Ymir and smiled. The brunette figured she must’ve had some pretty wretched allergies, because the blonde’s cheeks were pink and her eyes seemed a little watery. “Friends then?”

            “That’ll work, for now,” Ymir grinned cheekily at the blonde.

            “Oh, look who’s all presumptuous now,” Krista giggled, assuming it was a joke. She took the freckled girl’s hand and pulled her towards the school’s main gates. “How about we talk while we walk?”

            “That’s cool,” Ymir followed the suddenly hyper blonde, each of the tiny girl’s steps was practically a bounce. Ymir’s long legs were able to catch up quickly. “By the way, just in case it wasn’t crazy obvious already, I’m super gay.”

            Krista halted to a stop, but Ymir expected it and was able to pivot expertly around the blonde. She continued walking backwards, her eyebrow arched and a half-smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Just putting that out there. You may do with that information what you will.”

            “Hey Ymir?” the blonde called after the recently cocky girl.

            “What’s up?” the brunette asked, unsure if what Krista was going to say had anything to do with her earlier comment. Her stomach began to twist.

            “You forgot your bag,” Krista pointed over her shoulder. Ymir’s eyes glanced at the backpack, then at the smirking girl, then back to the bag.

            “Well shit.”


	7. Sara Conner

**CH 7: Sara Connor**

* * *

 

             Ymir and Krista decided to walk home together, but as they neared the local game store, they decided to stop in. They crossed the street and began walking along the sidewalk that led to the shop. Ymir could just barely make out some brand new posters hanging in the windows.

            “I’m just saying, what self respective seventeen year old chooses not to drive? Shouldn’t you be cruisin’ around town with the wind blowing through that crazy gorgeous, gold hair of yours?” Ymir asked, not able to wait for the day she’d get to drive. She didn’t mention that, after Gran watched her play Grand Theft Auto, she banned the freckled nerd from getting a driver’s license until she turned eighteen.

            “Yes, I’m seventeen and a year older than you, but no. I don’t drive and I don’t particularly want to. At least not now,” Krista admitted. In reality, she wouldn’t mind driving at all, but with the way her family was, it wasn’t worth the hassle. She’d first have to ask for the car, then gas whenever she needed it… it just wasn’t a good idea. Asking her step mother for anything was more trouble than it was worth.

            “Legs too short to reach the pedals?”

            “Go screw yourself.”

            “Krista!” Ymir gasped with fake shock. “I’m a sophisticated lady. Hearing such crude words deeply upsets me. I mean, shit, can’t you be more fucking polite?”

            The blonde reached for the handle and pulled open the store’s door for the suddenly sassy brunette. “After you, your royal highness.”

            “That’s better, but next time you should bow. Also, I’d prefer you refer to me by my title, “My Empress, Light of the World, Gamer Extraordinaire, Giver of Divine insults, Lady with the badass dance moves, Guardian of those not as Awesome as her, Queen of-“

            “Get your royal ass in the damn store, Ymir.”

            “Ymir works, too. I like Ymir,” the brunette darted into the store, before the tiny blonde decided she was being too bothersome. She smiled upon entering.

            “You looking for anything in particular?” Krista asked.

            “Well, Mikasa’s birthday is coming up, so I’m more so looking for something she’d like,” Ymir explained, scanning the store.

            “And you think you’ll be able to find her something here?” Krista asked, looking at all the games that lined the walls, a confused look plastered on her face. Ymir stared at her blankly.

            “Well, yeah. This is Mikasa’s utopia. She’d want three of pretty much everything. If she was locked in here for the rest of eternity, she’d be ecstatic.”

            “Ymir, my favorite customer!” the blond boy behind the counter greeted, interrupting their conversation. “Come back to give us another impromptu dance show?”

            “Go shove it up yourself, Reiner,” Ymir growled back. “And you weren’t even there when that happened… unless,” She glared at Krista. “Traitor.”

            “Ymir. You shook your ass on top of a counter and sang a song about being too sexy in public. I tell everyone about it, including complete strangers who have no idea who you are,” Krista confessed.

            “The real question that should be asked is why you’re hanging out with this dope when you could be hanging out with someone a little more mature,” Reiner quipped, flashing what Ymir was guessing was supposed to be a charming smile, but looked more like he had eaten something that really didn’t agree with his stomach.

            “Oh, so I should be hanging out with someone a bit more refined?” Krista asked, smiling sweetly. Reiner leaned against the desk beneath him and nodded. “And ruggedly handsome?”

            Reiner was pretty much shooting stars out his eyes staring at the blonde. He drank up her every word. Ymir looked between the two, bewildered.

“Exactly,” Reiner confirmed.

            “Someone like you?”

            “Yep.”

            “Hmm, I’m not interested in the least,” Krista smirked. Reiner frowned, unsure how the girl tricked him so easily. “You’re not my type. I prefer freckles, gorgeous gold eyes, and, well, females.”

            Reiner’s jaw fell open as he stared, completely baffled, at Ymir.

            Krista gripped Ymir’s shoulder reassuringly. When she started to walk away, her hand slid down the taller girl’s arm. The brunette stared at her in complete shock. She wasn’t exactly what just happened, but she liked it. She liked it a lot.

            “I’ll be over there when you’re done here,” Krista nodded towards a wall with A.O.T. merchandise. “I think I may pick up the game while we’re here.”

            Ymir nodded, letting the blonde know she thought it was a good idea. She watched Krista as she made her way over to the shelf.

            “How the hell did you do that, and where do I get one?” Reiner asked, not yet sure he could believe what he’d just witnessed. “You’re a complete and total geek. How’d you do that?”

            “Oh, you didn’t know?” Ymir asked, a cheeky grin on her face. “I deal in short, hot blondes with sexy voices and perfect asses. Not cheap, I assure you.”

            When Ymir finished talking with Reiner and had found Mikasa’s present, the two girls stood in line at the cashier. Krista was holding onto a copy of Attack on Titan, and Ymir couldn’t help but think, what with the girl’s blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, breathtaking smile, the videogame clutched between her hands, and the way she stared excitedly at the cover, soaking up every minute detail… she had never seen anyone or anything sexier in her entire life.

* * *

 

            Ymir dodged the flying pastry that Eren chucked at her, barely missing being smacked in the face by the baked good. Sasha stared, mouth wide open in horror as the donut rolled along the ground, rendering it inedible.

            “Five second rule?” her small, hope filled voice asked, despite knowing there was no saving it.

            “Sasha, it rolled into a mud pile,” Armin pointed out, patting her back. “You just have to let it go this time.”

            The hungry girl glared at Eren, furious that he would waste the food instead of offering it to her. The boy didn’t seem too concerned, and instead turned his attention back to Ymir.

            “Quit being purposefully vague. What happened between you and Krista yesterday?” he asked, hoping his friend would stop playing coy and just tell them. His question was met by a cocky grin and a shrug. “Nothing horrible, I’m guessing, what with that idiotic grin on your face.”

            “We talked. I was all cool and badass and she couldn’t resist me. In fact, she was all over me. She wants my sweet, fine ass,” Ymir lied through her teeth.

            “Good morning!” Krista greeted from behind Ymir. When the freckled girl turned around, she was met by the sweetest smile. She had to fight back the blush that was already warming up her cheeks. A blush Annie, by the look of it, noticed. The unsociable girl rolled her eyes, but not before Ymir caught the hint of a smile the girl was attempting to hide. “How have your mornings been so far?” Krista asked the group. Ymir was about to answer when Sasha flung herself onto the tiny girl.

            “Eren’s a massive prat. He’s an ass, a jackass…. An ass jack!” the miserable girl complained.

            “Ass jack?” Annie asked, wincing. “Ouch.”

            “Ymir was just telling us all about how-” An elbow to his ribs shut Eren up before he could finish talking. He rubbed his hand against his sore side, staring daggers at the freckled girl.

            “…Telling them all about how you bought the game yesterday and can play with the group now,” Ymir covered. “We’re all crazy excited.”

            “Oh, should we all meet up and play today?” Annie asked, her eyes lighting up. She would never admit it, but playing the game with the nerds was quickly becoming her favorite after school activity, and her best friend joining in would just make it perfect.

            “Eh, I actually have to do something at my place today,” Krista recalled, frowning. She really did look quite disappointed. “I have this family thing… sorry. Maybe after?”

            “Oh, too bad,” Ymir moped. Of course the blonde would have plans every once in awhile. Her afterschool life didn’t always consist of going over to the brunette’s home. “What with not being able to work on it last week, I was hoping we could put some time into our project. We’re kinda crazy behind, you know.”

            “Well, why don’t you come over, Ymir?” Krista asked. She couldn’t meet Ymir’s stare when she asked and, instead, became suddenly very interested in her shoes. Annie glanced suspiciously at her friend, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open, as though she hadn’t expected the invitation. Krista herself was surprised she’d done it.

If she wasn’t careful, things could go badly. Very, very badly.

            It was weird for Ymir to see Krista so nervous. The girl was usually extremely confident and gregarious, and the brunette couldn’t help but wonder what caused the sudden change. Was it because this would be their first time at one of their houses since the fight? Maybe Krista was embarrassed about her home? It was possible she lived in a bad part of town, and that’s why it seemed somewhat difficult for her to invite Ymir over, not that the gamer girl would care at all about that.

            Realizing she had been in deep thought for a little too long, Ymir smiled and nodded her head, accepting the invite. “Sounds good! It’d be a little pathetic if the first class I ever failed was art.”

            “Oh, no worries,” Annie interjected, sitting next to Krista who had just sat across from Ymir. The pissy blonde pulled a muffin out of her backpack and opened the package. The moment the pastry came into her view, Sasha’s eyes were glued to it. “I’m sure you’re pathetic at a bunch of other things, too.”

            “How incredibly comforting.”

            “Always here to help,” the blonde remarked. She looked up at the sky, huffed, unzipped her hoodie, and pulled the offending article of clothing off. She crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into her bag. “Fuck, it’s too damn early for it to be this hot. I know high school can be hell, but this is a bit much.”

            Mikasa’s eyes shot to the girl’s chest. She wished she could say it was in a tactful, respectful way full of chivalrous purpose and reverential admiration, but in reality it was nothing close to that. She was, in essence, a horny teen and Annie had mad rack-growing skills. Ymir apparently noticed as well, because she leaned in close to Mikasa and whispered in her ear, “holy crap, Blondie’s packing!”

            “She’s probably stuffing,” the perverted girl mused, averting her eyes just in time for Annie to miss her intense stare.

            “Excuse me?” the agitated girl questioned. “What the hell were you saying this time?”

            “I said,” Mikasa pulled down her scarf and cleared her throat, giving her enough time to come up with a random lie-rhyme to deceive Annie with. “Can I taste your muffin?”

            Sasha, who had stolen a piece of the wannabe-cupcake, snorted and the food decided to lodge itself in her nasal passage. She started hacking and coughing in a desperate attempt to stop the pain. She let out a feeble whimper as Annie pounded on her back, thinking she was choking.

            After a few panicked moments of pounding her fist against the table, the pain eased. Sasha opened her tear filled eyes and cleared her throat.

            “Annie just tried to kill Potato Girl with her sweet, sweet muffin,” Ymir pointed out, snickering. Mikasa joined in the group’s laughter and pulled her scarf back up.

            “But what a way to go…” the raven haired girl muttered, making sure she said it quietly enough that she wasn’t heard by anyone.

* * *

             Ymir stood at the side of the pool, cursing the day some asshole decided that her P.E. class had to include swimming. Refusing to go to Krista’s place smelling like chlorine, she fibbed, telling the teacher she was on that special time of the month. The teacher, not wanting to hear anymore of her explanation, allowed her to sit out. It was her first time lying to any sort of school related authority figure.

             On the other hand, mandatory swim had its perks, one of which being Krista in a bathing suit. She watched the blonde, mouth hanging wide open, eyes glued to her.

             “You’re such a pervert,” Mikasa scolded, sitting down next to her. The girl “conveniently” forgot her swimsuit that day. The raven haired girl was wearing her gym clothes, her scarf still wrapped in its usual place. “At least try not being so obvious.”

             “Is that even allowed?” Ymir asked, pointing at the red accessory. She was met by a shrug.

             Ymir, distracted, focused her attention back to the pool only to find her favorite hot blonde disappeared. She scanned the waters, but couldn’t spy her anywhere. Just as she was about to ask Mikasa if she saw where the hottie disappeared to, two hands shot up from the water next to Ymir and grabbed her leg.

             “What the-” Ymir scrambled back, only stopping when she was out of Krista’s reach. The girl’s splashing shot water everywhere. “Damn it, Krista!”

             “Aww, you never let me have any fun,” the blonde laughed. “You should come closer. I have a secret I need to tell you.”

             “Liar.” The nerd knew the tiny girl intended to water-attack her by the sly grin on her face.

             “Oh come on, Ymir. You know I’m too nice and innocent to do anything devious.”

             “You got me wet!” Ymir shouted, just as the song they were listening to overhead ended. Of course, because the brunette’s luck just sucked that badly, everyone heard what she said. All eyes were on them.

             “Hey, I’m more than fine with that, but why don’t you keep that kinda talk for the bedroom,” Krista replied, winking at the nerd. Students all around them started giggling.

             “Krista!” Ymir hissed, shocked by the girls response. She wasn’t sure how to deal with all the attention that was currently on her, and she could feel her cheeks turning hot. She gulped, feeling dozens of eyes on her, waiting for any sort of reaction.

             Luckily, she was saved by the bell.

             Krista, slightly bummed to miss out on flustered Ymir, swam to the closest pool ladder and grabbed the rails, pulling her body out of the water.

             To Ymir, it was like the girl was moving in slow motion, kinda like in those movies where the hot chick goes running up from the waves on a beach, but better. Way better.

             If Ymir thought watching the girl swim around in the pool was straight up hot, the sight of her emerging from the depths, water dripping from her wet hair before dripping slowly down her body, and her swimsuit clinging tight to her body, perfectly showing off her figure, was absolutely scorching. Grabbing her towel, the blonde began patting herself down, before wrapping it around herself. Moments before temporarily disappearing behind the locker room door, the blonde made sure to tease Ymir, shooting her a devious smile.

             The freckled nerd stood frozen to her spot. If this was a videogame, she would have been instantly knocked out. No HP left, blubbering mess on the floor, restart from last save point. Mikasa, a knowing smile on her lips, walked up behind her. Knowing the girl was gonna make some sort of comment about her earlier outburst, Ymir shook her head.

            “Don’t,” she warned her friend. “Just don’t.”

            Mikasa shrugged, relenting. “Would’ve been too easy anyways.”

            “Thanks,” Ymir muttered as she slipped into the room, holding the door open for her friend.

            “No problem,” she replied. “I wonder if Krista knows she didn’t need to splash you to get you we-”

            Mikasa was silenced when Ymir shut the door in her face.

            The brunette stormed over to her locker, making a point of not looking in the direction of the showers. She changed out of her gym clothes in a hurry and was just about to grab her backpack when a familiar song erupted from her pocket.

            “I close my eyes and see you before me. Think I would die if you were to ignore me. A fool could see just how much I adore you. I’d get down on my knees, I’d do anything for you,” the voice sang out. Ymir scrambled for her phone, silencing the song as Chrissy Amphlett sang about touching herself when thinking about her special someone. As her thumb hit the ‘reject call’ button, she noticed that the one who called was Mikasa.

            For the second time in the last ten minutes, she was the center of attention among her peers.

            Just as she returned the phone to her pocket, the girl in question walked by, smirking.

            “Touché,” Ymir acknowledged in defeat. “Touché.”

* * *

 

            After school, Ymir caught up with her favorite hot blonde and they started walking to Krista’s home together. Krista talked a lot about the project they’d be working on, while Ymir tried to explain the set up of her favorite game without having her computer there to show her how it worked. They were so deep into their own conversation, Krista hardly noticed she was almost home until she noticed the familiar sight in front of her.

            “Uhm, we’re here,” Krista announced tentatively as they walked up to a pair of massive iron gates. Ymir stared at her dumbly. Something certainly wasn’t clicking in her brain.

            “Wait, are you serious?” the brunette asked, eyeing the massive house in the distance. The family that lived here made rich seem like an understatement. The blonde simply nodded, not looking at her. “Well shit, I always thought Iron Man lived here.”

            Krista smiled, shaking her head as she entered a numeric password into a bizarre black device. The gadget looked suspiciously like something out of a James Bond movie, and Ymir began wondering if her first assessment was really that far off. Krista was so crazy amazing, Ymir wouldn’t exactly be surprised if, on top of everything else, she was also secretly a crime fighting super hero of some sort.

            There was a mechanical clacking sound and, for a moment, Ymir thought Krista might have some sort of robot butler. Instead, the gates started to open. That was pretty cool, too. Not robot butler cool, but pretty damn close.

            The brunette followed close behind Krista as they walked up the driveway to what seemed to be a legit mansion. Ymir had only seen houses like this in comic books and movies. Massive houses like this definitely weren’t her preference, what with her tendency to get lost so easily, but it was still insanely cool to see.

            The front yard was pristine. Lawn ornaments decorated it, a huge fountain its centerpiece. The nerd assumed the family must’ve had a gardening staff of some sort, because there were way too many flowers, bushes, and trees around for there not to be. She didn’t see anyone, but they were probably there. Hidden and watching, like little shrubbery ninjas.

            “You never told me you were an heiress,” Ymir noted, taking in everything. Krista kept walking stiffly, somewhat uncomfortable. What the brunette didn’t know was the thing that made the blonde feel so awkward wasn’t the way the nerd looked around at everything like Sasha in a candy shop, but because she very much so didn’t want Ymir to run into any of her family. She kept a steady eye on her surroundings, not allowing any hint of unwanted company pass her. “Unless you’ve secretly made your fortune on the black market. Oh Gods, is that why you brought me here? Are you taking my organs? I refuse to be sold as a maid to some rich creeper, oh, unless they’re like, super hot. If they’re super hot I might be okay with it.”

            “I’m not an heiress,” was the only response the geek received as the other girl stopped in front of two massive, wooden doors. She grabbed one of the doorknockers and tapped gently.

            They didn’t have to wait long before the house welcomed them in, a gentleman in a black and white suit beckoning them in. Krista smiled and thanked him as she entered, and Ymir waved awkwardly from behind the blonde.

            “ People still have penguin butlers? Oh, and if you have to take an organ, make it a kidney. I can still live with one. Oh, or my appendix. Doubt you’ll get much for it, though.”

            A soft giggle was the only hint Ymir received that the other girl heard her.

            A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling in the middle of the walkway. There was a huge picture of a family hanging in the living room, but, despite studying each face, Ymir couldn’t find Krista. Two massive, marble staircases curved down from either side of the room, and the two girls were about to walk up the one on the left when someone calling after the blonde stopped them.

            “Krista, Krista, come here please,” asked a woman in a flowing white dress. The silver belt around her middle accented the necklace she wore well. Despite the smile on her face, something about the woman put Ymir on edge. She seemed like one of those psycho wives from some horrible reality TV show or one of those bitchy customers at retail stores who demands to talk to the manager. That being said, she was certain the woman wouldn’t be caught dead in such a shop.

            The dame looked Ymir up and down, and the brunette could easily tell her appearance was being judged. Ratty converse, jeans with holes in the knees, and a much worn long sleeve grey shirt didn’t really compare to the elegant woman’s outfit. While Mrs. Prissy Bitch’s hair fell gently to her shoulders, not a strand out of place, Ymir probably looked like she was involved in a wrestling match with a leaf blower on a humid day.

            After finishing taking in all of Ymir’s appearance, the woman averted her attention back to Krista, not wasting a single word on the bizarre girl who entered her house.

            “I’ll be right there,” Krista called to the woman, her voice slightly shaken. She turned back to Ymir, an apologetic smile on her lips. “Keep going up the stairs, pass the first hallways and take the second one. The door down the hall on the left is my room.”

            The directions seemed simple enough, so Ymir waved the girl off as she headed up the stairs. She passed the first hallways with no problem and began to turn into the second one when her ears were unexpectedly assaulted by a high pitched shriek and something splashing against her, drenching her entire upper body. Realization refused to sink in as Ymir stood in her place, dripping and in complete shock.

            “Oh my! I’m so sorry,” the short woman apologized. The water pitcher in her hands was now empty and she looked horrified. “I-I-I… it was an ac-accident,” the maid, whose black pigtails gave her the appearance of a puppy, offered.

            Pigtail’s terrified yet expectant expression confused Ymir. Yeah, getting soaked sucked, but it was just water and not a big deal. “Uh, it’s find, you know. No need to look like you’re about to cry. I’m not gonna scream at you or anything.”

            It was as she said this that she realized, had it been that woman from earlier who received the rude awakening rather than Ymir, there probably would have been hell to pay. Having a guest pelted in such a way would probably piss the chick off, as well. Reputation and that shit.

            The maid’s terror suddenly made a lot more sense.

            “But-but,” the woman tried to speak, unable to find her words.

            “Really, don’t worry about it,” Ymir smiled. “I just walked all the way from the high school anyways, and it was hella hot. The wet down was kinda refreshing.” She peeked behind the small woman. “Uhm, is that Krista’s room behind you?” the brunette asked, pointing at a door.

            “Oh, you’re a friend of Ms. Krista’s?” the maid’s eyes brightened and she flashed the nerd a bright smile, for the first time. The total turnaround in the woman’s mood threw Ymir a bit. It was interesting how the mere mentioning of Krista was able to change the maid so.

            While she definitely considered herself to be the tiny blonde’s friend, being called such was still a very foreign concept to her. Had someone told her back at the beginning of the year that they’d be close, she would have thought them insane. Straight up, fluffy walls, straightjacket insane.

            “Yeah,” Ymir smiled. “I am.”

            “In that case, let me do something about those clothes.” pigtails nodded down the hall, past Krista’s room. The freckled girl followed the woman where they walked into a room at the end of the hall.

            Inside the room was a long table covered in pristine, folded laundry. A massive washer and dryer sat at the opposite wall. The maid grabbed a towel and tossed it to the brunette. Ymir easily snatched it from the air.

            “Top off, then dry your hair and cover yourself up,” the shorter brunette ordered, sitting on the table so that she was facing the wall opposite Ymir.

            “Uh, there’s no chance of anyone walking in, right?” The nerd began rubbing the towel roughly against her hair, peeking at the door.

            “Other maids perhaps, but that’s all. As for the family, well, they rarely come over to this part of the house. Wouldn’t be caught dead in the staff’s quarters.”

            “But Krista’s room…” The brunette slipped off her shirt and wrapped the towel around herself. She walked the top over to the dryer, but the bazillion buttons on the contraption only succeeded in giving her a headache. The maid chuckled and took Ymir’s shirt, tossing it into the bizarre appliance before hitting some random buttons. The dryer responded, coming to life with a thunderous roar.

            “Yup, while the rest of the family rooms reside in the East corridor, Ms. Krista is roomed with the staff.”

            “But, why? Is it by choice? I mean, not that I’d blame her. I wouldn’t wanna be roomed anywhere near that sizzling bag of bitch if I could help it,” Ymir admitted. That lady reeked snob.

            Pigtails giggled at hearing the woman referred to in such a way. “Not by choice, though Ms. Krista couldn’t care less about that. It’s more an issue of not wanting that sweet girl to mix with her kids.”

            “What a skank!” Ymir spat. “Wait, that wasn’t Krista’s mom?”

            “No,” the woman shook her head. While it did put the blonde teen in an awkward position, the maid still couldn’t help but consider it a blessing that she didn’t have to share that horrible woman’s blood. “I-I’ve probably already said too much. I don’t really have an off switch. Everyone says so.”

            The door opened, and though she was completely covered, Ymir still threw her hands up, covering her chest. Luckily, it was two ladies in identical outfits as the other maid’s. Both women froze upon seeing the young towel wearing stranger. Their eyes eventually shot curious looks between the bizarre girl and the pigtailed maid.

            “Er, nice to meet you,” Ymir greeted awkwardly. It was at this moment that she realized she hadn’t asked the maid she’d been speaking with what her name was. Her grandmother would have been ashamed. “My name’s Ymir, I’m a friend of Krista’s. I promise I don’t generally make a habit of hiding away in laundry rooms half clothed.” Both women bowed their heads ever so slightly.

            “I’m Mina,” Pigtails introduced herself as she hopped down from the table. She then pointed at her comrades in cleaning. “This is Petra,” she said, waving her hand in the direction of maid with strawberry blonde hair, “and that is Hannah,” she pointed to the woman with her hair in a ponytail. “She often sneaks around with one of the gardeners. She thinks we don’t know.”

            “Mina!” Hannah shrieked.

            “It’s true,” Petra chimed in, smiling brightly. “I caught them in the gardening shed last week.”

            “Petra!” The horrified maid buried her face in her hands. The blonde patted her friend’s back, before diverting her attention back to Ymir.

            “Ms. Ymir, might I ask why you’re all wet? You didn’t decide to jump into the fountain like Ms. Annie, did you?” Petra asked, concerned.

            “Ms. Annie didn’t jump into the fountain,” Mina recalled. “I believe it was Ms. Krista who deviously pushed her in.”

            “Ah, well I didn’t jump in either,” Ymir revealed. “It was a drive-by soaking thanks to your very own Mina.” Upon hearing just how the teen got drenched, Hannah gasped, her hand covering her mouth, Petra snickered, and Mina pouted.

            “You’re lucky it was Ymir and not Mrs. Reiss that you victimized,” Hannah pointed out.

            “Though that would have been awesome to see,” Petra confessed. “Probably therapeutic as well. Can you imagine throwing water straight into her face?”

            “Such a thing is what dreams are made of,” Mina sighed, longingly.

            “Err, so that wench from earlier is Mrs. Reiss then? But Krista’s last name is Lenz. How does that work?”Ymir asked. She never got an answer, because the moment Mina opened her mouth, the door to the laundry room swung open.

            “Hey guys, have any of you seen Ymir? She’s not in my roo-” Krista’s voice faltered when she noticed her friend leaning against the table. “Oh.”

            “Sorry Ms. Krista,” Mina apologized. “I believe I may have… er, distracted her.” Krista waved her hand, dismissing any need the maid had for apologizing.

            “It’s no big deal, but they’re looking for you guys out there,” the blonde teen pointed out.

            The maids thanked the girl and bid farewell to Ymir, wishing her a good evening before slipping out of the room. The nerd smiled at the door after they left, oddly proud of herself. It had been a long time since she last felt so comfortable in such a big crowd of people she didn’t know well. Perhaps she was getting better at this whole being sociable thing.

            “Hey Ymir?” Krista asked, not looking directly at her friend, though the girl’s bare, freckled shoulders were definitely enticing.

            “Yeah?”

            “Sorry for making you wait so long, but… uhm, why are you in a towel? What happened to you? Where’d your shirt go?”

            “Well, you see,” Ymir began to explain how she found herself in her current predicament, “I was playing strip poker with the maids. For ladies who make a living keeping things clean, they sure are dirty.”

* * *

 

            Once Ymir’s shirt was finally dry, she was able to free herself from the constraints of the towel and Krista was finally able to bring the nerd over to her room. It wasn’t what Ymir had expected.

            The room was rather plain. There was a bookshelf in one corner, a desk that overlooked the backyard, and a bed. It was incredibly bizarre for Ymir to visit a room that wasn’t top to bottom decorated in assorted nerd décor.

            Eventually they settled down, Ymir on Krista’s bed while the blonde was hunkered down at her desk. They got a lot done, but after working on the project for an hour and a half, the girls decided to take a break. They were now conversing with one another, asking whatever question came to mind. It was the brunette’s turn when she remembered what her scarf-wearing friend wanted her to tell Krista.

            “Mikasa’s turning seventeen on Saturday,” Ymir mentioned. “She’s practically ancient.”

            “Hey, I’m seventeen! Technically almost eighteen.” the blonde complained.

            “Exactly. Old as hell. I’ll get you a walker for your birthday, sound good?”

            “Jerk.”

            “True.” Ymir nodded. “Anyways, we’re gonna be hanging out at Mikasa’s and will probably spend the night. You and Princess Pissy Pants are both invited.”

            “Oh?” It’d been a long time since Krista had been invited to a birthday gathering. She didn’t particularly like birthdays to begin with, they always brought with them bad memories.

            “Krista?”

            “Hmm?” The blonde was still lost in thought.

            “What’s up? You’re doing that thing where you get a sad look on your face and seem to be lost in your own head. Do you not want to go?”

            Since when was Ymir the Oblivious so perceptive?

            “It’s not that … I just don’t have a good history with birthdays,” Krista explained. “I don’t exactly fit in with my family. And then this year, my step mom is using my birthday as an excuse to invite over a bunch of the extended family and several business partners. It’s going to be this huge thing and they’re gonna spend all day schmoozing. I kinda wish I could just have a regular pizza party, swim in the backyard, then pass out in the living room kinda birthday. Or, you know, actually have my own friends over.”

            “I’m sorry.” This time it wasn’t nerves that rendered Ymir speechless.

            “It’s fine,” Krista sighed, shrugging. “I mean, they’re not horrible, it’s just that most of my family don’t exactly like me.”

            “But how? I mean, I didn’t think that was physically possible. You’re made of sugar, sprinkles, and puppy kisses all rolled up into a single person?”

            “I’m a result of my father’s affair,” Krista explained, offhandedly. “For one reason or another they can’t blame my dad, my mother’s not around to take the brunt of it, so it falls on me.”

            “I’m sorry, Krista,” Ymir apologized. If there was a way to fix it all, she’d do it in an instant, but right now she could tell that instead of having Ymir get angry and insult her family, Krista needed her to just listen. “I can’t imagine how that’d feel.”

            “Well, my siblings aren’t particularly rude, they’re just advised to stay away from me, I guess. My eldest sister, though, she used to sneak over here all the time.”

            “Used to?”

            “College,” Krista smirked, her eyes cold and distant despite the smile. “She doesn’t come around much at all anymore.

            “Well, what if I come over? We could get the whole group to come over and we’ll leave all the hoity –toity people to mingle amongst themselves while we turn that massive fountain out there into a pool.” Ymir laughed, mentally picturing her friends splashing around in the giant lawn decoration.

            “Wait, you’d come? You’d really want to come over to something like that?” Krista asked, slightly shocked.

            “Sure, why not? It’ll be your birthday, after all, and geeks never leave a comrade behind… even if your ally is being attacked by evil gnomes and you have a transportation spel-” Ymir was interrupted before she could finish her sentence by the tiny blonde practically tackling her. Krista hugged her tight, repeatedly thanking her. After a long moment of enjoying the contact, Krista pulled back, smiling at the brunette.

            “By the way, Mikasa’s birthday isn’t gonna be a huge thing. We’ll probably just do our usual, which is playing games, eating pizza, playing even more videogames, sleep, then more games!” Ymir explained, hoping to convince the girl to come. “It’d mean a lot to Mikasa if you came, I’m sure. And I- er, I would really want you there, too.”

            “Honestly, that sounds perfect,” Krista replied, sitting down in front of the freckled girl, smiling brightly.

            “Anyways, now it’s your turn to ask a question,” Ymir pointed out, having kept track of their turns.

            The image of the young blue eyed girl who looked suspiciously like Ymir in the picture that hung at Gran’s home popped into Krista’s mind. She wanted to ask so badly, but knew better than to do so.

            “Uhm, what’s your favorite day of the week?” she asked instead

            “Saturday for sure. The week days are automatically out because of school, and on Sunday I spend my day dreading going to school the next day. Saturday’s the best. If you had to kiss Mikasa or Sahsa, who would you pick?”

            “Ymir!” Krista admonished, before thinking about the question. “Sasha I guess, but only because I feel like Mikasa would deck me.”

            “Yeah, I could see that happening,” Ymir chuckled.

            “What’s your best subject?”

            “Er, does lunch count?”

            “Ymir…”

            “I’m fucking fantastic in all subjects. I’m the renaissance girl of our high school.”

            “How impressive,” Krista commenting, not sounding genuine at all.

            “Why are you so short?”

            “Is that your question?”

            “Sure.”

            “Because all the best things come in small packages.”

            “I could make a small package joke, but it’d be way to easy. Your turn,” Ymir pointed out.

            Krista shifted awkwardly in front of Ymir. “Have… have you ever kissed anyone?”

            Ymir’s eyes went wide as her mouth opened several times, but no sound came out. She wanted to know, she wanted to know bad, but perhaps she pushed a little too hard. Chuckling, the blonde waved her off.

            “Sorry about that,” Krista apologized, laughing nervously. “We really should get back to the project,” she added as she got up from the bed and headed back over to the desk.

            “No,” Ymir confessed, looking slightly embarrassed. She was staring down at a piece of lint that suddenly seemed super fascinating. “Although, during a game of truth or dare, I had to kiss Mikasa’s cheek.”

            “Oh, okay.”

            “Can I ask one more question before we start working again?”

            “Sure,” Krista conceded.

            “Have your feet ever been able to reach the ground in any chair you’ve sat on?” Ymir asked, pointing at the blonde’s dangling feet. “No, wait, do you get into places on a discount because people think you’re under twelve? Oh, have you ever passed the height requirements to ride a rollercoaster? Would you consider Chihuahuas a kindred spirit? For you, is a fun-sized candy bar the equivalent to a king-sized candy bar for the average person?”

            Ymir had no time to dodge the crumpled up ball of paper that came flying at her head.

 


	8. Hermione Granger

**Ch 8: Hermione Granger**

* * *

 

            Ymir ran down the sidewalk, sending water flying each time her now soiled Converse landed into one of the many puddles that littered the pavement. Rain pounded down on her, drenching her jeans and tank top completely, as she gripped the bags in her hands tighter. Perhaps she should have listened to Armin’s advice about bringing an umbrella. If it wasn’t Mikasa’s birthday, she’d kick her ass for sending her out in such wretched weather to grab groceries.

            Her breath was heavy as she closed in on her destination. White clouds appeared every time she exhaled, only to disappear almost instantly in the wind. When she was little, she loved the way her breath turned into fog on cold days, now she hated it. All it did was bring on memories she’d rather leave behind her.

            Stopping at an intersection, Ymir waited for the road to be clear before she ran across the street, finally reaching the block Mikasa’s house was on. She was almost at the walkway when a car came barreling down the road. When the driver noticed the running brunette, he took a sharp dip to the right, his front tire mere inches from the curb. A wave of rain water shot from underneath the car, completely drenching the nerd. Her running came to a complete stop as she heard a hollering laughter disappear as the guy drove further and further away.

            After giving herself a moment to collect herself, because she was feeling slightly homicidal, Ymir trudged up the driveway and stopped at the Jaegers’ front door. She rang the doorbell, and waited. Because she was running before, she only now was realizing just how damn cold it was.

            “Come in!” she heard Eren’s voice yell from inside. Ymir did as she was told and was immediately hit by blissful warmth as she stepped into the house. Eren glared at her as she stepped in. “Close the damn door! It’s fucking freezing out there.”

            “No shit,” Ymir grunted, dropping the bags of food in front of the boy. Armin, hearing the door open, slipped into the room. He eyed Ymir, unimpressed.

            “I told you to take an umbrella,” the blond pointed out. Ymir’s wet clothes clung to her lithe frame.

            “The majority of this actually just happened,” she explained, gesturing up and down herself. “Some asshole purposefully drove through a massive puddle and completely drenched me.” Ymir undid the laces of her shoes and pulled them off, setting them next to the door along with several others. “I’m gonna go ask your sister for a change of clothes. There’s no way I’m going back out there to get some from home.”

            The brunette walked into the living room to find Sasha sitting on the floor, controller in her hands, and a bag of chips to her side. She was mid-blitz ball battle, all of her attention focused on kicking the Luca Goers’ asses.

            “Where’s the birthday girl?” Ymir asked, hoping to get out of her wet clothes as soon as possible.

            “Bathroom.” Sasha’s response was short and to the point. The freckled girl wasn’t surprised. Potato Girl sucked at focusing on more than one thing at a time.

            “Ugh, but I gotta pee,” Ymir complained, frowning.

            “Lovely, thanks for the update.” One of the characters Sasha was playing attempted to make a shot, but the ball was tipped by one of the opposing players, resulting in the goalie easily catching it. “That’s totally cheap! That player wasn’t there a second ago.” She paused the game and turned to her friend. “Just go in there.”

            “But she’s in there…”

            “Like that ever stops us. We all used to take showers together as kids. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” Sasha explained before turning back to the game. “Anyways, I’m fairly certain there’s a curtain.”

            “I suppose you’re right,” Ymir figured, and hesitantly turning to walk down the hall leading to the restroom. She missed the devious smirk on Sasha’s face.

            She didn’t bother to knock on the door and instead just slipped in. The curtain was closed, hiding the showering girl.

            “Yo, Mikasa,” Ymir greeted. “I’m coming in. I gotta pee like crazy.”

            The nerd tiptoed over the clothes laid out on the floor. She was about to unbutton her pants when a head popped out from behind the curtain. Instead of her friend’s jet black hair, the showering girl’s hair was blonde. Ymir stood frozen, staring at her, her fingers still on the clasp of her jeans.

            “Oh, hey Ymir,” the girl smiled, looking the brunette up and down. Her smile turned scheming. “You’re all wet. Wanna get in here and warm yourself up?”

            Ymir’s entire face went crimson. She covered her eyes and went to run out of the room when she tripped over the clothes Krista left behind. She fell against something hard, and scrambled to find a doorknob. She tore the door open, and ran out of the bathroom. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry!”

            Mikasa slipped out of her room, some fresh clothes for Ymir in her arms, and walked into the living room. She was about to sit down when she heard a commotion down the hall. She eyed Sasha, one of her eyebrows arching, totally confused and wondering what the hell was happening.

            Without a word, Sasha paused her game, and slowly got up. She brushed her clothes off and grabbed her bag of chips, holding them close against her. The girl took her time crossing the room before stopping at the closet door. She pulled the door open before turning to Mikasa.

            “You saw nothing,” the chip-wielding brunette beseeched, before slipping into the closet and closing the door behind her.

            The girl disappeared from sight just as Ymir’s strangled voice hollered from the hallway, “Sasha, I’m gonna kill you!”

* * *

            Ymir sat curled up on the far side of the couch, cuddling a cushion, and using it to hide her face when Krista entered, fresh and clean from her shower. In the time it took the blonde to finish, Annie had arrived and the group was playing a racing game. She’d also attempted to kill Sasha, but refrained because Mikasa complained, claiming she didn’t want to clean up the blood afterwards. Instead, she stole the girl’s chips, which seemed to be a fate worse than death to her.

           “Ymir,” Eren called from his seat on the floor, “Sasha’s kicking my ass here. Help.”

           “Do you want my advice?” the freckled girl asked.

           “What I want is for her to stop hitting me with fucking shells every ten seconds.”

           “Well, not running into every single penguin in the road would be a good starting point,” Ymir pointed out, sarcastically as her friend got stuck behind one of the before mentioned animals. “What you’re doing right now? Don’t do that.”

           “Screw you,” Eren mumbled as Yoshi, the character Sasha had picked, rolled across the finish line.

           “I’ll play you,” Annie offered, not noticing the look of horror on the boy’s face.

           “Er, actually I’m good. Anyone else wanna go?” He held up the controller, offering it to any brave soul who was willing.

           “Oh, c’mon,” the blonde sighed when no one leapt at the chance. She gave Krista, who just sat on the middle of the couch, a questioning look, daring her to play.

           “Oh hell no,” Krista laughed, shaking her head. “Not gonna happen. You get crazy competitive when you play one on one.”

           “No I don’t,” Annie countered, frowning.

           “Mikasa, help me here,” the smaller blonde urged.

           “Her sportsmanship skills are shitty,” the raven haired girl agreed, her reply muffled by her sweater.

           “Hey, I heard that this time,” Annie growled, eyeing the girl.

           “What?” Mikasa asked, innocently as she pulled her scarf down. “I just said you’re so… pretty.”

           The scarf wearing girl’s friends all stared at her, slightly confused. Mikasa and Annie exchanged confused looks before the usually quiet girl turned away, her ears having turned bright pink.

           “Leave it to Mikasa to try and insult a girl and end up hitting on her instead,” Ymir snickered. “Smooth.”

           “Oh, like you can talk,” Krista goaded. “You have no place teasing other people about their speaking skills.”

           The freckled nerd’s face went red, matching Mikasa’s. She pulled her cushion closer, creating a barrier between herself and the hot blonde.

           “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Sasha snickered. “From the way Ymir tells it, she has you eating out of the palm of her hand.”

           Krista’s eyebrows shot up as her eyes whipped to face the girl who was shoving popcorn into her face. “Wait, what?”

           “Yeah,” Sasha grinned before turning to the boy next to her. “What was it she said again, Eren?”

           “Oh,” he smirked devilishly. “I believe she said something about how you wanted her sweet ass. That you were practically begging for some action that only she could give you. She seemed more than happy to oblige.”

            Ymir flung the cushion at Eren’s head, clobbering him. She hadn’t thought it through very well, because now her flushed face was exposed to the whole group. Instead, she stared at the ground, refusing to look at the cocky grin she was certain Krista was now sporting.

* * *

            Eventually Annie was able to persuade Armin to race against her. Ymir was fairly certain the guy was terrified of her and may have let her win, because the only thing worse than Annie’s gloating was her tantrum when she lost.

           When they eventually finished with Mario, they all decided to play a little A.O.T. Krista, who was playing for the first time, was working on customizing her character. After twenty minutes went by and she still wasn’t finished, the rest of the group decided to take a snack break. When they returned, food in hand, they found the blonde still focused on her laptop screen. No one made fun of her; they all had done the exact same thing when they started out.

            Once Krista finally finished, the rest of the group started up their games as well. They all went back to the starter area, and despite the fact that their characters were far beyond any of the enemies they were fighting, it was a bit of a relief to play the game for no other reason than to have fun. They’d been focusing so hard on the competition; they’d forgotten why they loved the game so much.

            Ymir was also having a particularly nice time showing her mad titan slaying skills off in front of a certain tiny blonde. She didn’t have many talents, and perhaps being mad skilled at videogames wasn’t exactly the hottest thing to be gifted at, but it was something in a sea of the many things she sucked at, and she’d cling to it.

            Her character had just finished whipping through the air, flying at the perfect angle, before slashing her sword through the back of a titan’s neck. The giant creature crumpled, falling to the ground. She almost left, moving on to the next colossal monster, when a familiar glint caught her eye.

            Aside from experience points and coin earned by killing titans, sometimes the humanoid beings left behind various power ups and rare items.

            “Hey Krista, check this out,” Ymir beckoned the newcomer over. The girl scooted over so she was sitting beside the brunette, and craned her neck, peeking at the more experienced gamer’s screen. “Do you see this sparkle here?” she asked, pointing at the glimmer.

            “The one shining from the steaming pile of mutilated titan ass?”

            “Yup, that’s a special item. Sometimes Titans drop them, so always make sure to check. Usually they have upgrades and cool items. If you’re lucky, you’ll find rare stuff you can’t buy from the armory and stores,” Ymir explained.

            “That’s how Mikasa got crazy strong. She picked up this power up that boosted her speed and sword strength. Totally not fair,” Sasha complained.

            “You wish,” the scarf-wearing girl muttered. “I’m just that good.”

            “Anyways,” Ymir continued. “When you see a shimmer like this, have your character run over it. They’ll automatically pick it up and it’ll show up in your item menu.” The freckled girl opened up her item menu where it showed a chest.

            “So most of the time you get pretty common items?” Krista asked, eyeing the box.

            “Yup, usually minor, temporary upgrades, healing ointments, character customization items… stuff like that. There are also uncommon items, like special weapons and mounts. Rare items tend to be stuff like Mikasa’s upgrade she got. There are also super rare items, which I think I’ve only gotten one of. Ended up being some useless clothing item, but it sold for an insanely good price.”

            “There are also Legendary chests,” Annie added.

            “I don’t think they actually exist,” Armin countered. “Just something gamers made up to troll each other, or to brag about.

            “I have to agree with him,” Ymir noted. “None of us have ever seen one, and our lives have pretty much been devoted to this thing. If there was such a thing as a super, ultra rare, unique treasure, one of us, or at least someone we know, would have gotten one.”

            “So are you gonna find out what’s in the chest or what?” Krista asked, eagerly eyeing the mysterious box. Ymir shrugged, not really interested.

            “Eh, probably just more healing crap. Honestly, I usually collect a bunch of these things, then when I reach like… a hundred, I open them all at once.”

            “But… you don’t know what’s in it until you open it,” the blonde pointed out.

            “Yeah, but-“

            “Ymir?”

            “Yes?” the brunette asked, confused by the no-nonsense look Krista was giving her.

            “Open the box,” the tiny blonde demanded. The girl with her big blue eyes was usually adorable, but sometimes the menacing look in her eyes caused a shiver to run down Ymir’s spine.

            “Would you like to do the honors?” Ymir offered, chuckling as she turned the computer towards Krista. The girl looked at her nervously.

            “You don’t mind?”

            “Just open the damn chest already so we can play,” Eren groaned.

            Krista dragged a tiny sword icon over the chest, took a deep breath, and clicked on the box. A tiny circle popped up on the screen, letting the girls know something was loading.

            “Huh, that’s weird,” Ymir muttered.

            “How so?” Krista asked.

            “Well, if it’s an item I’ve gotten already, it’ll usually pop up instantly,” the freckled girl pointed out. “Maybe it’s a rare item.”

            “Oh, you should let me at your chest more often,” the blonde challenged, eyeing the freckled girl. “You know, since I’m good luck.”

            Ymir was about to scold the gorgeous girl when the loading circle disappeared, replaced by an odd, ornate, ancient looking chest the freckled girl had never seen before. Under the treasure box the word “legendary” scrolled across her screen.

            Holy fucking shit socks.

            Ymir stared at the screen, her eyes huge, her mouth hung open, and with a completely incredulous look on her face. Honestly, it wasn’t a very rare sight. The expression was practically a permanent fixture.

            Confused, Krista looked at the screen, then Ymir, then back at the screen. Did she break something? Maybe she messed it all up.

            “Ymir?” the blonde asked, but received no response. Okay, maybe she broke the game and Ymir’s brain. “Annie, can you come take a look at this? I think I messed something up.”

            The other blonde nodded, set her laptop on the ground, and leaned over Krista, looking at Ymir’s screen. The moment her brain took in what she was seeing, she too, lost her words.

            One by one, the other nerds came to look at the freckled girl’s computer, and one by one, each froze, staring at the icon with mad desire. It was all very confusing to the blonde. How could a virtual item affect them so.

            “Er, so… should I click on it again?” Krista asked. She was met by the tiniest nod from Ymir. The tiny blonde clicked on the bizarre treasure that seemed to have turned all of her friends into catatonic nerd zombies. Instantly, the menu screen disappeared and Ymir’s character, which looked like a miniature version of the brunette, disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

            The crowd around the laptop drew in closer as the fog began to dissipate. The entire room was silent as every set of eyes in the area were glued to the slowly emerging character.

            “Well… shit,” Annie uttered. The character that looked like a tiny Ymir was gone, a very different creature taking her place. “You’re a titan shifter.”

            Ymir was, in fact, in control of the titan creature. Instead of swinging a sword, the creature ripped apart other titans with its long, clawed fingers. Steam shot out of every injury her character received, slowly regenerating her health. When she was done testing out her character, and the small titan was surrounded by enemy corpses, she phased back into her original creation.

            She sat back, completely dumbfounded, and looked up to find her friends looking at her with the exact same expression. A wicked smile slowly formed on her lips.

            “Krista?” the brunette asked, not looking away from her screen.

            “Uhm, yeah?” the blonde asked, still not certain what just happened.

            “You open all of my chests from now on.”

            “I’m only really interested in one particular chest, but whatever you say.”

* * *

            Mikasa munched happily on her lunch, watching as Ymir let everyone have a turn playing as her titan shifting character. She’d just finished her turn, and was now watching as Annie finished decimating a twenty meter titan with ease.

            “Well fuck me,” the blonde laughed, amazed by the incredibly rare power up.

            “Okay,” Mikasa muttered. Perhaps it was because of her birthday, or maybe it was because of her good mood, but the raven haired girl decided to be a little more daring than usual.

            Annie’s face snapped comically fast to stare at Mikasa. Armin and Eren watched the duo, confused, while Ymir and Sasha were caught up in a giggle-attack.

            “Wh-what’d you just say?” She sputtered. Annie was nearly certain she heard what Mikasa said correctly, but… there was no way, was there?

            “Er… Parfait?” Mikassa pulled down her scarf and offered a bowl full of yogurt, fruit, and granola to the startled blonde.

            “Uh… no thanks,” Annie shook her head, not entirely convinced by the geek’s lie. She looked back down at Ymir’s computer screen where the freckled nerd’s character was being nibbled on by one of the shorter class titans. “Oh shit.”

            Ymir quickly showed Annie the rest of the controls for the titan. The blonde hit the kick button and punted the monster, sending him flying off screen. After the blonde gamer seemed to have gotten the hang of it, the brunette decided to go back to snacking, or at least she would have had Sasha not been busy stealing her food.

           “Damn it, Potato whore! Stop eating my cookie!” Ymir growled, pulling what was left of her food out of the brunette’s reach. Sasha smirked, wiping off her lips.

           “Oh my, you’ve never complained before,” the hungry girl purred.

           “I-I- I… wait, what?” Ymir fumbled over her words. The perverted look on her friend’s face clued her that she was being teased. Without thinking about it, she turned to face Krista. “She’s just kidding. She never… er, I never… we never-”

           “Ymir!” Krista chided. “Don’t deny your lover. You’ll hurt her feelings.”

           The freckled girl glared at the two before passing what was left of the chocolate chip cookie over to Sasha.

           “I hope you fucking choke on it.”

* * *

           After a day full of games, pizza, and her friends teasing her about everything that was physically possible to tease someone about, Ymir rolled out her sleeping bag on Mikasa’s bedroom floor. The two boys had already retired to Eren’s room, and Mikasa was readying her bed for herself and Sasha to share. It would seem the gluttonous girl had eaten too much, and given herself the stomach ache from hell. That left her, Annie, and Krista to share the floor.

           They lazed about, talking for over an hour, until one by one they began to fall asleep. Sasha was the first one out, which had both pros and cons. While her moaning and groaning over her stomach was over with, the girl had a tendency to sleep talk. While somewhat amusing at first, after about ten minutes of listening to sleep Sasha attempt to persuade a cupcake to let her eat it, the muffled pleading got old. Then Mikasa, who was a light snorer, passed out, followed by Annie, who, based on how many times Ymir had been kicked in the side, had issues with keeping still while asleep. In short, over the past two hours, she had no break from the constant pain in the ass her group of friends had become. At least Mikasa wasn’t as bad as Eren.

           She closed her eyes and focused. Sure enough, the boy was snoring loud enough that, if she listened for it, she could hear him from across the house. She was somewhat surprised Armin hadn’t clobbered him to death by now.

           Ymir let out a frustrated sigh, opened up her eyes, and stared up at the ceiling. At this rate, sleep was going to be an impossibility. She shifted around, turning the other way, hoping that finding a new sleeping position would hold the key to her eventual slumber. Instead, she was met by bright blue eyes, staring back at her, full of curiosity. They watched each other silently for awhile, trying to tune out the noise that surrounded them. After awhile, the lack of conversation made Ymir antsy, and she searched for something to say, taking care to noticed how, despite being used to each other’s presence, the blonde still gave her butterflies.

          “So, you can’t sleep either?” She asked, dully.

**_No shit, Sherlock._ **

          Krista nodded. “I have a bad enough time sleeping in my own bed in complete silence.”

          “I’m starting to see why you made me sleep next to Annie,” Ymir pointed out, glaring at Krista, who met the stern expression with an amused smile. “Does she always Bruce Lee in the middle of the night?”

          “Honestly, she used to be a whole lot worse. One time I woke up with a sore face and a bloody nose.”

          “Geeze, she’s even scary when she’s asleep. I’d be impressed if that wasn’t slightly terrifying,” Ymir shivered, snuggling deeper under her blanket. “So, too loud for you to sleep, too?”

          “Nah, I just suck at falling asleep. Doesn’t really matter where I am.”

          “Aww, would it help if I read you a bed time story? Three little bears is a classic. There’s this chick in it who sneaks into the house of a family of bears, eats their food, takes over their chairs with her massive ass, then snoozes in their beds. It’s like a biography of Sasha’s life.”

          Krista laughed, but there was something off about it. It sounded empty; the usual musical twinkle that Ymir adored so much was absent.

          “Uh, Krista?”

          “Hmm?” came the reply. Perhaps the blonde wasn’t in much of a talkative mood.

          “What’s wrong?” Ymir asked, tentatively. She really, really didn’t want to upset the girl, which was probably why she was so shocked when her question was met by a soft chuckle.

          “When did you get so observant?” Krista questioned. “A few weeks ago you would have blushed, rambled about nonsensical stuff, then probably tripped over and fell on your face.”

          “Excuse me, but obviously that’s all part of my charm.”

          “True.”

          “So, what’s got the bubbly, smiley Goddess all frowny and sad?”

          “Err… I’ve actually never, well, no one has ever read me a bed time story before.”

          “Wait, really?” Ymir asked, stunned.

          “Really.”

          “Not even when you were a kid?”

          “No, not even then.”

          “What about a lullaby?”

          “…No.”

          “Were you ever tucked in? Anything at all?” Ymir continued to press. There was no response. The mood had completely changed from a playful banter to a dark, heavy awkwardness. It was somewhat hard for the brunette to think about. Had it not been for her grandmother, it was very possible she’d never have received much of a childhood either. It hurt her to know that the sweet, beautiful, amazing girl laying beside her had been hurt so, yet it astounded her that the beautiful blonde came out of it as strong and good as she was. The more Ymir got to know about Krista, the more she was left amazed by her.

          “Alright, in that case just give me a sec here,” Ymir muttered, before going silent.

          “Uh, Ymir? What are you doing?” The curious blonde asked, turning onto her side and staring at the freckled girl.

          “Trying to figure out which story to tell you, of course,” Ymir informed her, peeking at her from the corner of her eye. The blonde’s mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to find the correct words.

          “Don’t be silly. You don’t have to-”

          “Yes I do,” the brunette interrupted. If no one else was gonna wish Krista goodnight before bed, telling her a story to help her drift off, then fine. Ymir would pick up the slack those assholes avoided. She’d tell her every damn story she knew, and make up entirely new ones, if it would help make that hole a little smaller.

          “Okay,” Krista whispered, before adding, “…Just don’t go telling me one of your smutty fanfic stories right now. You want to get me sleepy, not excited.”

          “Damn,” Ymir breathed, hoping the darkness of night hid her vibrant red face.

          “Ymir!”

          “I was just kidding!” Ymir laughed. “And that only happened once. I clicked on it by mistake, didn’t see the ‘M’ rating, and had no idea you were reading over my shoulder.”

          “I am the smut ninja,” Krista confirmed.

          “I noticed,” Ymir pointed out. “Now get yourself all comfy, Queen of Kink. I’m not very good at this story thing, so you better pay attention.”

          “Does it start with ‘Once upon a time?’”

          “What does it matter?”

          “All proper bed time stories start with it,” Krista decided, seeming quite proud of herself.

          “What? No they don’t-”

          “Ymir,” the blonde warned.

          “Once upon a time,” Ymir began, having given in, “there lived a girl.”

          “Who was a princess.” Krista added.

          “What? Why?”

     “Because when I read books, I like to imagine myself as a character.”

“Wait, so you get to be the princess?” Ymir asked. This totally changed the story she chose to tell.

“Obviously,” Krista smirked.

“Whatever, fine. Once upon a time there lived a princess. Her name was Krist- er, Krystal, and she was very beautiful and loved by all.”

“Damn straight.”

“Hey, who’s telling this story,” Ymir complained.

“Sorry, sorry,” Krista muttered. “Continue.”

“The king had no other children, and very much so wanted to find a suitor for Krystal, but the princess found all of those who came before her, offering her marriage, to be rather fuck-nuggety.”

“Fuck-nuggety? Really? The princess, a refined woman of prestige, called her suitors fuck nuggets?”

“Yes.”

“I like her.”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s great, now shut up,” Ymir commanded.

“I should have you beheaded,” Krista muttered softly so the brunette couldn’t hear her.

“Princess Krystal was chilling in the royal garden with her latest suitor, Sir Reiner.”

“Ymir, if you hook Princess Krystal up with that jackass, I’m gonna be pissed.”

“That’s nice. Anyways, Princess Krystal sat at a bench while Sir Reiner flexed, hoping to show off his muscles. She didn’t notice a group of frogs watching from the garden’s pond.”

“Oh, I like frogs,” Krista yawned, snuggling into her blanket. She inched closer to Ymir, not wanting to miss a single word. She didn’t hear the audible gulp that escaped Ymir’s throat, nor did she notice the sharp intake of breath. She laid in blissful obliviousness, while Ymir tried to steady the heavy pulsing that wracked her entire body.

It was insane how Krista’s presence, especially when she laid so close to her, affected Ymir’s entire being. When she finally felt herself relax a little, she continued.

“One particular frog, who was covered in little frog spots, was far more interested than the others. Every day the little frog would sit at the edge of the pond, watching the beautiful princess, listening to her read her favorite book out loud, take off her shoes and run barefoot when she thought no one was watching, and, on occasion, sit uninterested as people did their best to win her heart. The suitors brought great gifts, promises of a fine castle in a far off land, and stories of journeys. The little frog had none of that, at least not anymore, and all she could do was sing softly for the princess whenever they were alone together.”

Ymir peeked over at Krista. The girl’s eyes were closed, her small smile buried in the wrinkles of her pillow. The brunette had to fight the urge to draw closer to the sleeping blonde. She wasn’t sure if Krista was asleep yet, but dared not stop her story, lest the girl wake up.

“When it was obvious all of Sir Reiner’s attempts at seducing the princess failed, he excused himself, leaving Krystal alone in the garden, as she liked it. When the princess finally settled, laying down on the soft, cool grass, the frog closed its eyes and began to sing for her, hoping the music would help ease the girl’s mind, even if only a little bit.

“Much time had gone past by the time the frog finished its song. It opened its eyes to find the Princess sitting close by, the ends of her dress ruined by the waters of the pond.

“’You sing so sadly,’ the princess noticed, smiling gently at the small, speckled creature. Sure enough, her bright, blue eyes were sparkling with not yet spilled tears. ‘It’s as if you were singing my heart’s song.’

“’I’m very sorry if I disturbed you princess,” the frog apologized. ‘It was never my intention to make you cry.’

“’Dear frog, this is not the first time you’ve affected me so, but please don’t feel badly. You share the words I could never say.’

“From that day forth, the frog and the princess became good friends, and the frog discovered something. All the feelings she had hidden from the princess, secret desires and unrealistic fantasies, they were silly, made up thoughts. They were but a fantasy she’d made up, pre-deciding what the beautiful girl was like. Those silly little lies were nothing compared to the reality. Princess Krystal was far more than the little frog could have ever fathomed, and with each new thing she learned about her, the heavier the little frog’s heart became. It hurt the creature so that its song soon became unbearable to the Princess. The Princess decided to speak with the tiny frog, hoping to ease her friend’s pain.

When the Princess did finally speak to the frog, the frog immediately apologizing, not having meant to worry the beautiful girl. Princess Krystal asked what was bothering the creature, wishing for nothing more than to see her friend smile again.

“’Soon the day will come when we will no longer be able to spend our days like this,’ the frog confessed. This left the princess perplexed. Was her friend saying goodbye?

“’What’s the meaning of this?’ the princess asked. ‘We’re friends, why must that change?’

“’My dear, kind, wonderful princess, I’ve watched many of your kind come and go from these gardens, each bearing promises of a new life for you, a happy life. One of these days, one of them will steal your heart, and you will leave me. I will not be able to bear it.’

“’Well that’s silly,’ the princess laughed, her giggle the most breathtaking melody the frog had ever heard. ‘If I’m to leave, I’ll simply take you with me.’

“This did not ease the frogs mind. In fact, it made it all the worse. ‘I’m sorry, Princess. I cannot.’

“’You’d rather stay here than be with me?’

“How her words tore at the frog’s heart so. ‘They bring with them gold and gifts, great trinkets from their lands, as well as comfort and security. I can offer none of those things. All the things I have to gift to you, they can give easily and better.’

“’Princess, if at all possible, I’d spend the rest of my days with you, but I refuse to hold you back from what you deserve. I will not be your burden, and I cannot watch you with another,’ the frog professed.

“The frog knew it had nothing on the fine lords and ladies who met with the Princess. It knew it had been selfish, stealing the Princess’s time. It couldn’t help it, and for some strange, unknown reason, the Princess was more than happy to spend her hours at the frog’s side, despite the frogs many faults. She didn’t seem to mind that the frog couldn’t talk properly half the time, that the frog had jerk friends, and that it had a tendency to spend way too much of its time in front of a computer screen than was probably healthy-“

Ymir wasn’t sure at what point the story became so personal. She glanced over at Krista. The now sleeping blonde had probably been out for awhile.

Ymir settled back into her sleeping spot, stared up at the plastic-star covered ceiling, and closed her eyes. Sleep overtook her instantly.

* * *

 

“Harry, don’t go in there,” Ymir muttered against her pillow, rendering her words nearly impossible to make out.

“She does this a lot,” Sasha noted, giggling as she watched her sleep-talking friend.

“You’re one to talk,” Mikasa pointed out, stepping over the freckled girl’s sleeping body.

“Wait for Dumbledore, you dumbass,” the resting brunette sleep-argued.

“Is that Harry Potter?” Annie asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“Yup, Krista confirmed. “By the way, you totally beat the crap outta Ymir last night while you were sleeping.” Annie didn’t seem too troubled by the revelation.

“Fuck following the spiders. Aragog can go suck a centaur-” Ymir twisted in her blankets.

“As entertaining as this is, I’m hungry,” Sasha muttered as she left the room behind Mikasa. Annie quickly hopped to her feet and followed, leaving Krista sitting up next to the sleeping brunette.

“Oh hey there, Hermione. Lookin’ good, girl,” Ymir sighed, smirking in her sleep.

Krista refused to be jealous of a fictional character.

The blonde pulled herself from her blankets and stood up, stretching out her arms and legs. She bounced over to the door and pulled it open, and glanced over her shoulder at Ymir’s sleeping form.

“The suitors can go screw themselves,” Krista decided. “I want the frog.”


	9. Buffy Summers

**Chapter 9: Buffy Summers**

* * *

 

            Ymir placed a fighting energy on her Hitmonlee, before attacking Eren’s Pikachu, causing double damage due to type weakness. The hit was enough to knock out her friend’s Pokémon, leaving her to grab her final card from the prize area. She snatched it and reaped her reward; the pissed off look on Eren’s face.

            “And yet another not so startling defeat for team Jaeger. Sorry folks, but that outcome really shocked no one,” Sasha commentated, using a stick of string cheese as a microphone. She seemed unaffected by the way Eren was glaring at her. “This reporter is fairly certain Ymir could be using a team of Magikarp, and would still manage to kick his ass. How does it feel to be defeated by Ymir for the thousandth time in a row?”

            “It’s way over a thousand,” Armin pointed out. “I mean, he’s never defeated her at any game, right? He always ends up decimated, whether it be video games, card games, arm wrestling, any kind of physical race, or just a school test. He’s even failed to beat her at Candy Land, and the chances of winning that when two people are involved is fifty-fifty. ”

            “Oh, this is true. Very troubling information indeed. What do you have to say about so many, horribly embarrassing past defeats?” Sasha asked, sticking the fake-mic in Eren’s face. Her giddy mood quickly soured when he stole a massive bite from her food.

            Ymir collected her cards, careful not to damage them, and slipped them back into her deck box. While she enjoyed playing lots of card games like Magic, Card Wars, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, her favorite was having vintage Pokémon matches. Perhaps it was the nostalgia. Playing the game brought back memories of rushing home from school with her friends to watch the latest episode while Gran pretended to not be interested in the cartoon.

            Just as Sasha was getting ready to pummel the cheese-stick stealing bastard, Eren was saved by the arrival of the school Goddess and her feisty friend.

When Krista and Annie sat across from them, Ymir could have sworn she could feel Mikasa stiffen beside her. She shot her a quizzical look. Mikasa shrugged and looked at the table, affectively ending the matter.

            “Oh, what’s this?” Krista asked, reaching for the deck box in Ymir’s hand. Her fingertips grazed against Ymir’s, sending a shockwave up Ymir’s spine. It wasn’t fair that such a tiny touch could result in such a reaction.

            **_If just touching my hand made me completely spazz the fuck out, what would happen if we kissed or…or-_**

            It suddenly became very hot as the thought passed through Ymir’s mind. She knew, as it had happened many times before around Krista, that she was probably blushing like crazy. She crossed her arms on the table and buried her face in her sleeves. To anyone else, she’d simply appear bored or sleepy, but in actuality her heart was pounding so hard she could feel the steady thumping throughout her entire body.

            After a few brief moments, and when she could feel her heartrate begin to slow back down, Ymir was about to pop her head back up when a soft caress completely threw off that idea.

            Krista ran her fingers through Ymir’s dark locks, gently running her hand over the dark brown hair. When Ymir raised her head slightly to see what exactly was going on, she was taken aback by the concerned look on Krista’s face. Krista peered at her, as if by looking intently enough, she’d be able to decipher the problem.

            “You okay?” Krista asked, smiling delicately. Ymir nodded her head and returned the smile, playing it off coolly, even though on the inside she felt like pterodactyl sized butterflies were fighting to escape her stomach. She had to fight the urge to complain when Krista pulled back, her attention returning to the cards in front of her. Ymir grumbled into her sleeve, unheard by the rest of the group.

            Sasha went off on a speech about the ethics of stealing another person’s fake food microphone, when a student Ymir had never really talked to walked up to the table, stopping in front of Annie and Krista.

            The nerds, though they obviously weren’t the ones being approached by the bizarre girl, whose name Ymir believed was Hitch, stared up at her with a weird mix of confusion and disbelief. People didn’t approach them. They were pretty much designated the weirdo table, so, even though it was no surprise that she was there to talk to Annie and Krista, it was still a bizarre event for the geeky group.

            “Hey Krista… Annie,” she greeted, smiling, though Ymir could’ve sworn there was some sort of unspoken tension between her and the group’s most aggressive member. Annie’s eyes refused to meet Hitch’s, and she simply nodded her acknowledgement, earning a frown.

Hitch didn’t pay any attention to the others at the table, and Ymir knew why. From Hitch’s perspective, Sasha was the weird girl who never shut up and was always shoving some form of food in her face, Armin was the crazy smart guy who responded to everything from a logical perspective, making even the most mundane questions into logic problems, Eren was the crazy feisty guy who could turn ‘Good morning’ into a crazy one sided, passionate debate, Mikasa was the creepy scarf chick who never spoke, and Ymir, with her heavy lidded eyes and resting bitch face, probably looked like she was about ready to snap at a moment’s notice, mangling all unsuspecting victims in her path… or she just looked like a super lame chick with unmanageable hair and an inability to form a coherent sentence. She chose to believe it was the first one, though.

            “What’s your perspective on cheese stick microphone thieves? Beheading, yay or nay?” Sasha blurted out, interrupting whatever it was Hitch was going to say. She got no response, just a raised eyebrow.

            “Anyways, there’s gonna be a party at my place Saturday for anyone who wants to come, and-” she eyed the other inhabitants of the table and added, though it was obvious she really didn’t want to, “er…I guess your friends can come, too.”

            With that, Hitch turned on her heel and got away from the table as quick as her neon orange flip-flops would take her. Ymir supposed she couldn’t be seen around her and her friends.

            “So,” Armin drawled. “That was Hitch?”

            “What a bitch,” Ymir muttered, hating the way she made her friends feel completely unwelcome.

            “She’s a pain in my itch?” Armin attempted to add to the rhyme.

            “She makes my ass twitch,” Eren joined in, earning disgusted stares of un-approval.

            “Dude, no,” Ymir stated. “Just no.”

            “Can I finish your sandwich?” Sasha asked Ymir, pointing at her food.

            “Stop it with the craptastic rhymes,” Annie demanded, glaring at the nerds with extreme annoyance. Mikasa stared at the object of her affection, her smirk hidden beneath her scarf.

            “You’re one chick I’d like to climb,” Mikasa incomprehensibly mumbled.

            “I have no idea what the fuck just came out of your mouth, but it had better not have been another rhyme.” Annie grumbled, demanding an answer. Mikasa pulled down her scarf.

            “It’s my lifetime dream to be a mime?”

            “Damn you’re weird.”

            “So,” Krista eyed everyone sitting at the table, “You guys going?”

            The way Krista said it made it obvious to Ymir that she and Annie would be attending, and the look in Krista’s eyes made it obvious she wanted Ymir to come too. The only problem was that Ymir and her friends had never gone to a legit high school party before.

            She was about to come up with some kinda excuse when Sasha interrupted her thoughts.

            “You think there’ll be food?” Sasha asked, gluttonous as ever.

            “Probably,” Annie shrugged.

            “We’re in.”

**_Well Shit._**

* * *

 

            Ymir and her friends were lounging in her room after she called an emergency meeting afterschool. Sasha, whom she’d placed in charge of popcorn, sat cross-legged on the floor, bowl in her lap, shoveling the snack into her face as Ymir explained.

            “As you all know, we’ve been invited to a party this Saturday,” Ymir began her speech.

            “Er, I wouldn’t say ‘invited,’ per say. More so we were there and it just kinda happened,” Armin pointed out.

            “Yes, thank you for that,” Ymir sighed. “As I was saying, we’ve been invited to a party, yet none of us have ever been to such a party before-”

            “What’re you talking about? What about Mikasa’s birthday party?” Eren asked.

            “Not the same thing.”

            “I’m offended by that statement,” Mikasa decided, just trying to be difficult.

            “C’mon, guys. I’ve never been invited to one of these things and Krista’s gonna be there and this’ll be the first time I’ll be interacting with people from her crowd,” Ymir rambled, her cheeks pink from her confession. “I don’t want to make a complete ass of myself… again.”

            “You do have a tendency to look idiotic at the most inopportune times,” Armin agreed.

            “Exactly!”

            Her friends traded glances before nodding between each other.

            “Okay, where do we start?” Sasha asked, smiling.

            “Er…wait, you guys are gonna help me and not like… totally sabotage this?” Ymir asked, somewhat shocked.

            “Oh, good idea. I vote sabotage,” Eren replied, earning himself a shove from Mikasa. He grumbled, muttering that it was a joke as he pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest, just like he used to do in elementary school.

            “I suggest research,” Armin insisted. “Perhaps a movie of the teen romance variety would be enlightening?”

            “Wait, so we’re gonna be watching teen rom-coms willingly?” Ymir asked, not liking where this was going. “Like, with the geeky girl who was really super hot without her glasses, the sweet jock, a huge makeover montage to some eighties song, all the girls in the school liking the same dude, the goofy best friend who was actually in love with the before mentioned nerd girl, the new kid having to eat alone in the bathroom, and a love confession in front of the entire school?”

            “Hey, do you want help or not?” Sasha questioned between mouthfuls.

            “Well, shit,” Ymir conceded.

* * *

 

            Step One: arrive to the party fashionably late, ended in complete and utter failure. At least it did in Sasha’s eyes. It would appear all the food that had been prepared had all but disappeared long ago into the bellies of annoyingly obnoxious, ravenous teenagers. It took everything Ymir had to keep Sasha from going on a psycho rampage.

            Step Two: see hot crush standing across the room among a sea of students, temporarily making it seem as though the world was moving in slow motion, was also a no go. With her excessive height advantage, finding Krista should have been easy, but Ymir forgot one variable. Krista was short; so short it would be like trying to find a marble in a ball pit.

            Because Step Two failed, step three automatically wouldn’t work. Ymir had planned to enter the room, pausing for dramatic effect while holding a badass power pose, but obviously there was now no point to that. In fact, the only step Ymir had planned that had actually worked was their fall back plan… hope against all hope that the house owner had a pet of some sort, and spend the day cuddling with it instead of dealing with scary humans ‘til the party was over.

            The five geeks sat crunched together like Tetris blocks on a couch, all fighting over giving affection to a single cat, while cautiously watching loud, belligerent teens dance, talk loudly, and dare each other to do stupider and stupider things. It didn’t help that Ymir got pretty much no sleep the previous night, once again, because she was too busy watching stupid party movies, afraid she’d miss something drastically important. At this point, she was practically seeing double.

            “Our generation makes me worry for the future,” Armin acknowledged, stroking the cat’s ear. “We should form an empire and take over the world. Save them from themselves, you know?”

            “Eh, world domination never goes well. The power would go to our heads and we’d eventually become evil,” Ymir pointed out.

            “I’m up for it,” Eren chimed in. “Has to be better than this hell on earth. I could be slaying titans right now, but Sasha just had to go and say yes.”

            “These things seemed so much more interesting in the movies. No one’s fighting. Why isn’t anybody getting thrown through a glass door?” Mikasa complained. “Lame fucking party.”

            “At least no one’s drunk,” Sasha decided, cheerily, just as some random dude from Ymir’s English class ran by without pants on. She shuddered. “Some things just can’t be unseen.”

            “No one looks good in tighty-whiteys,” Eren declared.

            “Speak for yourself,” Ymir countered.

            “Are you offering to abandon those torn up jeans and go running around the house as well?” Sasha questioned “Because I have my phone with me, and am all too willing to film that.”

            “You wish, potato girl. This hot bod is not for you.”

            “I’d watch it every night before bed,” Sasha agreed, before adding, “and post it on Youtube.”

            “Your loyalty moves me deeply,” Ymir sighed, bored despite the crazy people in front of her. All those hours of research and hopeful thinking had been for not. Here she was, yet again, the lame girl at the weirdo table, watching everyone else ignore her. She loved her friends and adored being an anime addicted nerd, but it’d be nice if enjoying those things didn’t automatically make judgey assholes assume she was lesser than them.

Deciding her legs could use a good stretch, Ymir stood from the couch. “I’ll be right back. I need to grab a drink or something.” She was met by a few nods and a playful smirk from Sasha.

“Okay, but try and keep your pants on!”

* * *

 

There was a time when watching Hitch cuddle up to some chick, her tongue half down her throat, would have made Annie’s blood boil, but now it just mildly annoyed her. Still, she had an uneasy feeling in her stomach and she had no idea how to make it go away. Had this been last year, she would have been devastated, and the fact that she wasn’t now both surprised and baffled her.

“You okay?”

Annie turned to face Krista, offering her a small, crooked smile. “Surprisingly, yes. Sorry about spacing off there. Uh, what were you saying?”

“Nothing important,” Krista shrugged it off, a worried look on her face. “Do you maybe wanna go to a different room? I’m fairly certain you don’t want to watch… well, that.” She nodded her head in the direction of the making-out couple.

“I suppose,” Annie replied. As odd as it may have sounded, she was disturbed and confused as to why she wasn’t more irritated by it.

“You know, Ymir and everyone may be here,” Krista mentioned.

“So?”

“Mikasa is probably here,” she purposely let slip. Krista knew her friend, and often knew Annie’s feelings before Annie even knew them herself.

Annie’s head whipped to face her friend, and Krista had to stifle a laugh. It was the most emotion she’d seen from the girl all day.

“What of it?” Annie asked, icily. Noticing her sudden burst of energy, she eased herself back and shrugged before adding, coolly, “Not that I care or anything.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Krista answered, innocently. “I just thought there was a little something interesting there. A tiny spark, if you will.”

“What are you talking about? Ackerman is the bane of my existence. She’s a cocky, annoying, practically mute chick with a red scarf,” Annie snarled. There was no way she’d have feelings for someone so infuriating…right? “I’d rather cuddle a cactus.”

“Mhmm,” Krista nodded, smirking.

“What?” Annie snapped.

“I think you protest too much.”

“Screw you, Goddess,” Annie replied, making the last word as disgustingly sugary sweet as possible. “Everyone thinks you’re sweet and helpful, but you can be such a meddlesome, maddening jerk sometimes.”

“Awww, and here I thought you had no pet names for me,” Krista laughed, getting up. Annie followed.

“Oh, believe me, I have a lot of names I could call you.”

* * *

 

Ymir wandered blindly through the party. With how many of her peers had drinks in hand, you’d think refreshments wouldn’t be so difficult for her to find. She’d definitely have to upgrade this to a Grade A, seek and retrieve mission.

Just as she was about to cut her losses and give up, attempting to find her way back to her friends, she spotted someone emerging from a room with a bottle in hand. She made her way towards the room, relieved when she realized it was the kitchen.

On one side of the long dining table were bottles of some kinda drink, definitely alcoholic. Ymir’s teen movie watching wasn’t needed to know drinking one of those wouldn’t be a good idea, however her research did warn her on the dangers of the punch bowl that rested in front of her.

Disposable red cups lay knocked over on the table, their color matching the liquid in the bowl. She stared at it, weighing her options. She couldn’t have some video of herself running around without pants making the rounds on the internet. Her fragile confidence couldn’t handle that.

“Tough choice?” a sweet voice asked her.

Ymir smiled, turning to find her favorite tiny blonde standing beside her.

Krista looked Ymir up and down, not knowing what the simple action was doing to Ymir. “Didn’t really see you as the drinking type.”

“Well, based on every teen movie I’ve seen, this stuff has probably been spiked,” she recalled, nodded at the punch. “Probably by some incompetent jock or the school delinquent. I, on the other hand, am fucking parched, so I’ve decided to stare longingly at it, watching something I know I can never have. I’m pretty good at that.”

“Something you can never have?” Krista asked, her head tilted to the side. It was really fucking cute and Ymir had to refrain from patting her adorable blonde head.

“Yup, like a pet velociraptor, to live in a world where everyone speaks Elvish, and-” she cut herself off before she said something really stupid. She hoped Krista missed the wistful look she shot her way before coming to her senses.

Instead of asking what Ymir was going to say, Krista walked over to the refrigerator, pulled the door open, scoured the shelves, and pulled out a bottle of water. She grinned cheekily at the gaping Ymir, tossing the drink to her.

“It helps to know the hostess,” she informed, before nodding her head towards the door that led out of the kitchen. The music was getting really loud and she needed a bit of a break from it. “Wanna go somewhere a little quieter?”

Channeling her inner Buffy Summers, Ymir nodded, ready to take on a horde of vampires if she had to. “Yeah, sure.”

* * *

 

“There’s no way in hell,” laughed some random dude Sasha barely recognized. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m totally serious,” Sasha challenged. “Krista and Ymir are totally gonna be a thing, and when they do get their lovey dovey on, I’m gettin’ some green.”

“You honestly think Krista, the dream girl of the vast majority of students who go to our school and pretty much the nicest person ever, is interested in your friend, Ymir, the girl who tripped in P.E. while running yesterday, causing a thirteen student pile up? Hell yeah I’m in on this. Feel kinda bad taking your money though.”

“I’m in, too!” added some chick in a yellow tank top.”

“Same here, no way it’s gonna happen,” another guy declared.

Armin was busy writing down names and who bet on what while Mikasa collected the money being handed to her. It all started with them casually talking about the wager amongst themselves. One person overheard, called over their friend, who in turn called over more friends, who called over even more friends, and pretty soon nearly everyone and their mother wanted to get in on their gamble.

“What happens if the tall one and short stuff find out?” Annie asked, eyeing the continuously growing money pile.

“Most likely?” Eren took a moment to think it over. “Ymir goes full on Titan and kicks us in the survey corps.”

“Translation?” Annie sighed, rolling her eyes. Mikasa pulled down her scarf.

“Eren’s gonna be singing an octave higher for a week, Sasha’s jaw will be wired shut, leaving her with no ability whatsoever to eat food, my scarf will be converted to a leash, you’ll have no middle finger to flip anyone else off with again, and Armin will have his precious calculator shoved so far up his ass, he’ll beep every time he sneezes.”

“Wait, I’m being punished as well?” the blonde asked, perplexed.

“Aren’t you so glad you decided to talk to the dorks at the nerd table?” Sasha smirked.

“I’m fucking ecstatic,” she sighed.

* * *

 

          “I’m just saying I’d totally be a way awesome warrior. I’d kick ass at fighting titans. In fact, I bet I’d be queen of the whole damn thing!” Krista boasted.

Krista and Ymir had stepped outside onto the porch, away from the rowdy kids and ear piercing music, though the heavy thumping of the bass could still be easily heard. Krista, who had reached level five on A.O.T. the previous day, was cockily mouthing off, talking about her mad titan slaying skills. Ymir didn’t have the heart to tell her that level five was pretty much still beginner level. Ymir herself was ninety-seven levels above her.

At some point Krista decided that in a real life, one on one battle, she’d be able to kick the crap outta one of the giant humanoid creatures. She’d, as she said, “leave them smoking in a pile of their own suck.”

“You, itty bitty Krista, Queen of a group of people who fight gargantuan, human-eating titans? Give me a break,” Ymir laughed. “They’re huge, massive monsters, and you’re pretty much the tiniest seventeen year-old I’ve ever seen. Hell, most middle school kids have at least a few inches on you.”

Krista didn’t look amused. Her lips were a thin, angry line, her hands on her hips, and her eyebrows raised, as if she was surprised at how massive of a jerk Ymir was being. Ymir instantly felt like a scolded puppy.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” Ymir apologized, cursing her stupid mouth for saying such insensitive things. She always took her teasing too far. She just never knew when to stop, always having to add one more blow.

“Well, it would appear this is the first time I’ve ever fallen victim to your infamous ‘ass personality.’ Who knew you could be so mean?”

“Krista, I’m so frickin’ sor-”

“I mean, I’d expect it from the others,” Krista confessed, “but from you?”

Krista’s eyes fell to the floor as she turned slightly, so she was no longer facing Ymir. Her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly, both turning Ymir on, and triggering her super protective mode.

“Please, I really didn’t mean to-” she attempted to apologize again, but was interrupted.

“It was kinda hot.”

A whimper escaped from Ymir’s throat and it took all of Krista’s will power to not jump her right then and there. Firstly, she didn’t want to go scaring off the ever-nervous junior classman, and secondly, she was so tiny and Ymir was so tall, jumping on her would probably have very little effect. Instead, she settled for meeting Ymir’s look of helplessness with a naughty smirk.

She watched as Ymir’s body went completely rigid. She backed up slightly, her back hitting the porch banister, but her eyes never left the gorgeous blonde in front of her. A giggle escaped Krista’s lips, resulting in an immediate blush on Ymir’s cheeks.

She loved it when Ymir did the blushy thing. So much so, in fact, that she often felt the need to tease her just so she could see the red hue dance across her face.

Krista inched forward, her eyes trained on the pink flush that spread down Ymir’s long, graceful neck. She was on the edge of throwing caution to the wind when the door burst open with a thud as a frantic girl stumbled out onto the porch. Krista watched, somewhat amused, as Hitch searched the area before her stare finally settled on the two girls.

“What the hell, Hitch?” Krista asked, wanting to know why her best friend’s ex crush ruined the moment she was about to have. Hitch didn’t address her, and instead zeroed in on Ymir.

“Your friends found my sister’s Rock Band game.”

“Uh, okay. What do you want me to do about it?”

“Make Sasha stop singing,” Hitch demanded, before adding, “please?”

* * *

 

When Ymir walked out, she didn’t really see what the big deal was. Yeah, watching Sasha serenade random students she went to school with, singing about how sexy she was, may have been a little weird, but Hitch was grossly overreacting. In fact, it seemed like most of the people were having fun. She was separated from Krista while shoving through the mass of students. Deciding to pull a Dora the Explorer and go on an epic journey to find her, Ymir was distracted when Annie walked up to her.

“Hitch going postal because the party isn’t going the way she wants it to?” Annie asked.

“It would appear so. The way she burst in, I thought the house was on fire or something,” Ymir replied.

“Yeah, she’s always been a bit of a drama queen. She always needed to have things her way. Funny how it took so long for me to notice that.”

“What’s got Sasha in such a bouncy mood anyways?” Ymir asked, watching her friend hop around while singing about how she was going to bring sexy back, completely oblivious to the attempted venting Annie was trying to get off her chest. “Last I saw her, she looked like she was about to wither away from a bout of depression due to the lack of food.”

“Someone ordered more pizza. She ate half of one, stole the mic off some drunk guy, and hasn’t stopped since,” Annie explained. “She started serenading Hitch with ‘Tonight I’m Fucking You,’ and Hitch must’ve thought geek was contagious, because she just about combusted in flame. She ran off and ended up grabbing you I guess.”

Ymir watched as Sasha jumped on top of a coffee table, playing air guitar despite Eren being in possession of the guitar controller. Her small crowd, however, didn’t seem to mind.

“Your future girlfriend’s popular tonight,” Annie warned. Ymir mouth fell open as she stared at Annie in horror.

“I’d never date Sasha! We’re pretty much sisters from another mister. That’d practically be incest.”

“I’m not talking about Potato Girl,” Annie sighed, rolling her eyes, before nodding in the direction of the kitchen. “I meant that future girlfriend.”

Ymir looked in the indicated direction where, despite the swarm of students, her eyes instantly fell on Krista. She wasn’t surprised she found her so easily this time. With the way Krista looked that night, her hair held up in a ponytail, perfectly exposing the nape of her neck, she stood out like a splash of color on an otherwise blank canvas. That and Ymir had crazy good Where’s Waldo skills. She could find the striped bastard every damn time.

            Krista was surrounded by a flock of students, each one ogling her. It wasn’t exactly an uncommon sight, but the feeling in the pit of Ymir’s stomach was foreign to her. It was like there was a monster resting inside her, waiting for the perfect moment to rip itself free from its mortal cage.

While in the past Ymir felt a sense of solidarity with Krista’s admirers, like they all shared the same hopeless desire of getting close to the Goddess, she now felt herself fighting the urge to kick them all hard between the legs, male and female. Their wandering eyes set a flame deep inside her, and it took all she had not to run over there, wrap herself around the short goddess, and declare “Mine!” repetitively like an annoying seagull from a Pixar movie.

            When Krista caught Ymir and Annie looking in her direction, she turned to her groupies, said something that caused them all to sulk in unison, then made her way back to the room where Sasha was currently ad-libbing lyrics about Mikasa’s ass while hopping on the couch. Several sets of longing eyes watched Krista as she left. Ymir wanted to flip ‘em off.

            “Pizza!” Krista chirped cheerfully, offering Ymir a plate with a slice.

            “Oh, uh, thanks,” she replied, taking the food. Sometimes the small things Krista did for her were really astounding.

            “Don’t look now, but I think they’re trying to kill you with their minds,” Annie whispered to Ymir. Ymir could only laugh because she knew, if she was in their position and Krista was spending her time with someone other than her, she’d more than likely be doing the exact same thing.

            Well, actually, she probably would have made a sim character, named it after the intruder, put it in a house, waited for the sim to accidentally start a fire, then remove all the doors from the house and watch the character burn.

            “Aww, do they think I’m gonna corrupt their poor, angelic Krista?” Ymir asked. “I’d think they’d be shocked to know that of our little group, Krista’s the most perverted.”

            “Am not,” Krista hissed. Her denial was met by raised eyebrows from both Annie and Ymir.

            “Excuse me. The first time we spoke to one another, did you not say you’d sleep sex me?” Ymir interrogated.

            “You too?” Annie asked.

            “W-w-wait, wh-what?” Ymir stumbled over her words.

            “Just kidding.”

            “Hey, you offered,” Krista replied nonchalantly with a shrug. “And that wasn’t the first time we spoke, jerk.”

            Ymir was about to ask Krista what exactly it was she was talking about, when the trio were interrupted by a gyrating Sasha. She walked up to Ymir, microphone in hand, in what Ymir assumed was supposed to be a seductive manner. She placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder, and began to croon along to the song as Eren played on the fake guitar, Armin focused intently on his plastic bass, and Mikasa sat with a bored expression while playing the wannabe drum set.

            “Tonight’s the night we’re gonna make it happen,” Sasha sang with wild abandon. The color drained from Ymir’s face.

            “E-e-excuse me?” Ymir stammered.

            “Tonight we’ll put all other things aside,” Sasha continued, her hand dragging down Ymir’s arm. Ymir eyed it like it was a grizzly paw. “Give in this time and show me some affection. We’re goin’ for those pleasures in the night.”

            Just as Ymir was gonna tell Sasha to knock it the fuck off, the girl made a lunge for Ymir’s pizza, successfully stealing it from Ymir’s grasp. She held it out in front of her, eyeing it with an insane passion and all the love she could muster.

            “I want to love you, feel you, and wrap myself around you,” she cooed to the plate of food. “I want to squeeze you, please you, I just can’t get enough. And if you move real slow, I’ll let it go!”

            With that, Sasha took a massive bite of the pizza, somehow still managing to sing despite the mouthful of food.

            “Imf ser excerterd, ind I jerst cert herd it. Erm abert to lers cerntrl ind I thernk I lerk ert.”

            “Is she seriously serenading my pizza?” Ymir asked, not knowing why she was shocked. It honestly sounded exactly like something her friend would do, and had probably already done on multiple occasions.

            “It would appear so. I’m gonna go grab some more before she finishes it all off,” Annie decided, turning on her heel and walking in the opposite direction of the singing girl, leaving Krista and Ymir to themselves. They continued to watch the performance, oddly transfixed.

            “Has she sung anything that wasn’t about sex or being sexy so far tonight?” Ymir asked, leaning in so Krista could hear her. Little things the nerd did, like that, made Krista’s heart rush and her fingertips tingle. It was slightly maddening that Ymir had absolutely no idea how these tiny acts affected her. The chick was dangerous. If she ever realized the power she held, and decided to go full on playgirl, the female gender would be left powerless.

            “Nope, all perfectly, uh, perfectly pervy,” Krista replied.

            “I don’t get that; I’d never be able to do something like that myself. I can’t talk about sex to a crowd, let alone sing about it. It’s way too embarrassing. I-I wouldn’t want people seeing me doing that.”

            “Really?” Krista asked, a playful smile covering the challenge in her eyes. “I think it’s badass. A sort of ‘fuck you’ to the stiff people who can’t have a little fun.”

            “Oh, so you’d prefer someone serenade you with a kinky sex song rather than a love song?” Ymir laughed. The question wasn’t meant to be serious.

            “Honestly, yeah, I really would.”

            “Wait, really?” Ymir eyed the girl skeptically. Most girls seemed like they’d melt at the idea of their significant other singing of their love and eternal devotion, but then again Krista wasn’t like those other girls. She was special.

            “Yup, singing a song like that takes confidence, and confidence is insanely sexy,” Krista pointed out. “Anyone can go up and sing some karaoke love song and, even if they suck, it’s still considered adorably cute.

            “It’s safe, and they get attention for being all romantic and crap, but going up and singing a song like the one Sasha just did? You risk embarrassment. You risk people being jerks. If I was gonna be serenaded by someone, I wouldn’t want some sappy safe option. It’d mean a hell of a lot more to me if they risked the thought of making a complete ass of themselves, because it’d show that it was truly about their feelings for me and me alone, not some show to garner the oohs and ahs of wistful onlookers.”

            “I feel like you may be reading too far into this,” Ymir muttered, unsure how to take the random splurge of oddly specific information.

            “Ymir,” Krista turned to face her, her expression suddenly serious. “With my family, most people who do nice things for me do it for praise, or because they’re getting something in return. Favor with the family or something, I guess. Just once I’d like someone to do something not for themselves… not selfish.”

            Ymir was about to ask Krista a slew of questions when, once again, she was interrupted mid-thought. It would appear the universe was against her learning much more about the blonde tonight.

            “Hey, take over the drums for me,” Mikasa ordered, handing Ymir the plastic drumsticks. Ymir was about to complain when her friend interrupted her. “I already told Sasha not to pressure you to sing or anything, so don’t worry about it.

            With that, Mikasa left, in search of a short blonde with a bad attitude.

* * *

 

            Mikasa pulled her jacket tight around herself as she closed the house door behind her, stepping out into the dark, cold night. If it was possible to feel the pressure of someone brooding, then the lone figure sulking in front of her would have absolutely crushed her.

            Mikasa sat down next to the girl, not saying a word as Annie looked over at her. She continued to stare out into the street as the minutes ticked by.

           At first Annie considered Mikasa’s presence a nuisance, but the longer they sat together in complete silence, the more she began to feel at ease. The knot in her stomach dissipated, replaced by a comfortable, settled feeling.

           Krista’s comments about Mikasa from earlier played back in Annie’s mind. They seemed so out of the blue and outrageous at the time, but Annie was amused to find that now, after a bit of time to process, she wasn’t nearly as bothered by them. Her brain told her she should be, that what she was feeling was wrong, but it seemed her heart was slowly changing, and there was nothing she could do about it.

To say the change in feelings shocked her would have been an understatement, after all Annie hadn’t simply had a crush on Hitch; she had loved her.

Hitch was rude, self-obsessed, and downright mean, but Annie never hated that about her. For years they were friends, steadily growing closer the longer they knew each other. She wasn’t sure when feelings of love started to develop. Perhaps they’d been there all along and she never noticed them, but when she did, they surrounded her like a violent wave, drowning her in an affection she wanted to give, but knew all too well would never be received. Not the way she wanted it to be.

Somehow, Hitch knew. It first became apparent when they started high school. She knew she had Annie under her thumb, and that Annie would do almost anything for her. She took advantage of it. In the rare moments where Annie realized she was being played for a fool, Hitch would easily reel her back in, leading her on, making her hope.

She saw the lovers come and go. At first it hurt; it hurt more than anything she’d ever known before, but as the tally steadily grew, she was disgusted to discover she was getting used to it.

Her salvation came in the form of a short, blonde with serious mommy issues.

Her relationship with Krista was one of those rare, once in a lifetime friendships that she could have either carefully nurtured, or abandoned and lost forever. Annie held onto it for dear life. It was what kept her afloat.

Suddenly there was someone else who gave a damn, someone else who wasn’t pulling the strings in the background, someone else who cared about her, not for the things that she could do for her, but simply for being herself.

Despite learning what a healthy friendship truly was, her feelings for Hitch remained. They taunted her, making her feel like a complete and utter idiot, yet she couldn’t stop.

It terrified her when she realized she didn’t want to.

Love and pain went hand in hand, but this was a pain she’d grown accustomed to. She knew the ripping and the pulling by heart, so much so that it barely hurt her anymore. She was no longer affected by the way she was pulled in so close, only to be pushed away the moment she felt safe.

She was no stranger to loss. She learned that lesson long ago, having grown used to the dread she felt when getting ready every morning, sitting at a table set for two which once sat three. There was nothing for her to do but stare at the occupied spot, doing her best not to mention the long gone inhabitant to her father. Hitch wasn’t the sole reason her heart had been broken.

And yet her feelings for her old friend were vanishing, just like the foggy exhales that left her lips before disappearing in the midnight winds.

She should have been ecstatic. She was finally free of the bars her own heart had selfishly confined her to. This should have calmed the turmoil that crashed within her, but all it did was add to the waves.

She thought she’d love her ex-best friend forever. She’d counted on that. It was the pain she knew best, after all. The pain she’d become almost immune to. She’d never let it show on the outside, but something new could break her, and what scared her the most was the fact that she knew she had absolutely no say in the matter. Her heart decided what it wanted, without her consent, and she was expected to follow.

Annie studied the features of the girl sitting next to her, making no attempt to hide her blatant staring. Mikasa didn’t seem to notice, or if she did, didn’t seem to care.

Her jet black hair fell delicately against alabaster skin, save for her nose which had turned pink from cold. Her grey eyes were steady, watching some unknown target in the far off distance. Her jaw was strong, yet fair, and Annie found herself wondering how she’d never noticed Mikasa’s striking features before.

“Did it get too loud in there for you, too?” Annie asked, breaking the long silence. It almost seemed Mikasa didn’t hear her, but after a pregnant pause, she nodded. “Yeah, I really can’t stand these things. I only came because, if I didn’t, Hitch would have been a massive pain in my ass.”

That got no reaction. Whatever the hell Mikasa was focusing on, it must’ve been really fucking fascinating.

“I didn’t leave because of the music,” Annie admitted.

That got her attention.

Mikasa turned to face her, her grey eyes searching blue.

“I was upset because I wasn’t upset, if that makes any sense at all,” Annie chuckled.

Mikasa didn’t move. She just watched on expectantly.

“Although watching Potato Girl hop around while singing about her lovely lady lumps would have been reason enough to leave.”

Still no reaction.

“I wonder if they’re still going at it.”

Silence.

Annie snapped. “Can’t you say something? And I’m not talking about some fucking insult that you turn around and mask with a stupid, clumsy rhyme. Just talk to me like a normal fucking human being for once” It was Mikasa’s fault she was feeling like this, the least she could do was not be her usual asshole self.

Taking her time, Mikasa slowly unraveled her scarf from her neck. She placed it in her lap, running her fingertips delicately over the yarn.

“And what exactly would you have me say?” Mikasa interrogated, her gaze unwavering. “I’m not the type to waste my time with pointless words, you know.”

“And all the times you called me crap?”

“Obviously those weren’t pointless words.”

For a couple minutes, neither girl spoke.

“Tell me something honest,” Annie demanded, breaking the silence.

Automatically, without taking a second to think over her response, she replied, “You’re a jerk.”

“Lovely, thanks for that-“

“I’m not finished,” Mikasa interrupted. “I think you’re a jerk. I think you’re unnecessarily mean. You’re probably obsessed with keeping this image of you being a badass or something, so much so that you never let anyone see past that wall you keep yourself hidden behind. You say exactly what no one wants to hear at exactly the worst possible time to say it, you have an annoying laugh… like super annoying, and you’re really fucking short.”

“What, not gonna insult my nose next?” Annie sighed. She had no right to be so irritated… she asked for it.

“Working on that project with you was probably one of the hardest, if not the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my entire high school career-”

“And there goes my final shred of dignity-“

“-because I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

“Wh-what?” Annie stuttered. Of all the things Mikasa could have said, that was probably one of the last she’d have expected.

“Believe me, I didn’t expect it either. I wanted to not be affected by everything you say and do. I wanted to not come rushing out here after noticing you left the party, because I was worried. I didn’t want to sit out here in the cold, for an hour, in complete silence because I have no idea what to say, but figured having someone there for you would be better than nothing. I wish I could ignore the sad look you get when you’re left to your own thoughts for too long, I wish you weren’t an A.O.T. nerd, because that just makes me like you all the more, and I wish I didn’t get damn butterflies in my stomach every time you assault my ears with your stupid, annoying, perfect laugh.”

This time, it was Annie’s turn to be at a loss for words. With the lack of her scarf to hide it, the faint light of the street lamp was enough to make the blush that stained Mikasa’s pale skin visible. She knew though, if asked, Mikasa would most likely blame it on the cold.

“Uh, that wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I told you to tell me something honest,” Annie mused, unsure of what else to say. This may be the start of something nice, something that didn’t hurt. She wasn’t sure yet, but she knew, willing or not, she’d find out soon enough.

“Er, sometimes I have librarian fantasies about you,” Mikasa blurted out.

“Mikasa!” Annie covered her mouth, not having meant to yell so loudly.

“It’s not my fault. If you don’t want people imagining you Dewey-ing their decimal system, stop looking so hot in reading glasses.”

Annie grabbed the red scarf from Mikasa’s lap and wrapped it back around her face.

“You were right. It’s better when you don’t talk,” she teased, unable to hide the faintest of smiles from the girl sitting next to her.


	10. Kate Kane

**Chapter 10: Kate Kane**

_It had started out with a simple desire to bake chocolate chip cookies. Excessive teasing and a profound mutual attraction blossomed into a full out war zone in the tiny kitchen. Flour coated the walls, sugar was strewn along the counter, and bits of chocolate were scattered across the floor. Krista stood in the middle of the mess, doing her best to catch her breath while attempting to stifle a laugh as Ymir stared at her in shock._

_“Krista?” Ymir advanced on her. Krista backed up until her back hit the counter. When she realized she was trapped and had nowhere to go, she fell back onto what usually helped her get out of sticky situations. She batted her long eyelashes, bit her bottom lip, and met Ymir’s frown with an innocent smile._

_“Yes?” Krista replied, her voice angelic._

_“Did you seriously just slip chocolate chips down my shirt?” Ymir’s eyes didn’t falter as she asked the question. It was as if they bore into Krista’s very mind, reading every single thing that flashed behind her eyes. She wished very much so that this was not the case, as her thoughts at the moment weren’t the least bit pure._

_“Well, that doesn’t sound like something I’d do.” She was unable to hide her playful smile._

_“I think some fell into my bra, you ass.”_

_This time Krista was unable to hold back her laughter. She giggled in Ymir’s face. That was the final straw._

_Ymir took one quick step forward, resting her palms against the counter on either of Krista’s tiny frame. She leaned in close, their noses almost touching._

_The laughter stopped immediately._

_Krista could feel the warmth emanating from her body, but fought the urge to press closer. Perhaps there would be time for that later._

_“What you choose to store in your bra is none of my concern, Ymir. Well, not in this case, at least.”_

_“Is that so?” Ymir’s eyes dipped down, staring at Krista’s lips._

_Krista could feel Ymir’s breath against her skin as she spoke the words. It sent an electric shock down her spine. Giving in to temptation, Krista-_

Sasha stopped typing as her brain strained for exactly what should happen next. She almost had the wording down when she was interrupted by the opening of her bedroom door.

Sasha slammed her laptop closed as Mikasa walked in, trying to not look suspicious. She failed miserably. Mikasa eyed the computer, then looked to her friend, before going back to the computer.

“Doing something horribly devious again?”

“Er… perhaps,” Sasha admitted.

“Did it involve food?”

“Technically, yes.”

“Sasha,” Mikasa warned. By the way Mikasa looked at her, Sasha could tell an explanation was expected. She relented, sighing as she opened the laptop back up, then turned it so it faced her friend.

“I… I think I got a bit carried away. It was just supposed to be a joke-like thing I was gonna send to Ymir to freak her out. You know, get her all antsy and nervous in that fun way she does, but I- uh, I think I got a little carried away. Maybe a lot carried away. Like, borderline super creepy carried away, but I couldn’t stop.”

A bizarre look of both concern and curiosity flashed across Mikasa’s features. She sat down, cross-legged in front of her friend. She pulled the computer over and rested it on her lap before starting to read.

Sasha watched anxiously, wondering if her friend was internally judging her. It didn’t help that Mikasa Ackerman was the reigning queen of poker face. There was no slight twitch, hint of a smile, or raised eyebrow. She simply read, seemingly emotionless, like one of those freakish lawn ornaments her aunt littered her front yard with. Perhaps that was where she got her creeper side from. Was the urge to write slightly kinky fan fiction about one’s friends hereditary?

After a couple more torturous minutes went by, Mikasa finally finished. She closed the laptop, clasped her hands together, set them on top of the device, and slowly nodded her head.

“Yup, you’re seriously fucking creepy.”

Sasha dejectedly hung her head, slightly ashamed. “I know.”

“What the hell was that?”

“Er, I call it YumiKuri. I got mad obsessed reading fan fiction last night and decided to write my own. Before I knew what was happening, I was writing about Ymir and Krista. I couldn’t stop. It was like I was possessed by something kinda kinky and super fucked up.”

“YumiKuri?”

“Er, yeah,” Sasha mumbled.

“How many of these things have you written?” Mikasa asked. Sasha wasn’t sure if she was simply trying to get a grasp on the situation, or was wondering if she’d been writing pervy stories about their group for years.

“That’s the first one, I swear!” Sasha insisted, trying to convince her friend of the truth.

“Sasha.”

“I told you, it really was just the one. Although,” Sasha shifted her gaze to the floor, unable to look her friend in the eye, “I-I was kinda planning on writing another as well.”

“You know Ymir would be freaked if she found out how far you took this,” Mikasa pointed out. “Like, full on spastic freak out, like that time Armin almost deleted her save data on her old Pokémon yellow game.”

“Er, the second one wasn’t gonna be about Krista and Ymir, actually,” Sasha admitted.

“Then what?” Mikasa asked. Sasha mumbled something incomprehensible, her eyes looking anywhere and everywhere other than at the girl sitting in front of her. She reiterated, “What were you going to write about then?”

“Uh, I was thinking of calling it Mikannie,” Sasha explained. After a minute passed without a reply, Sasha gathered enough guts to look up, meeting her friends stare. It was one of confusion, as though something seriously did not compute. She’d have to spell this out for her.

“Mikannie… as in you and Annie.”

Mikasa’s cheeks became flushed, but her lack of expression remained the same.

“Mikasa, you’re doing that quiet brooding and not responding to people thing again,” Sasha pointed out. That seemed to knock Mikasa out of her trance. “It’s kinda creeping me out. If you’re gonna kill me, just get it over with.”

“Uh, can you maybe…” the rest of her sentence was completely impossible to make out.

“Eh, can you maybe repeat that one more time, but like, not mutter the entire last part?” Sasha asked. Mikasa twiddled her thumbs and scratched absentmindedly at the sticker stuck to the back of Sasha’s laptop.

“I said, er… can you maybe let me read that second story when you finish it?”

* * *

 

“It’s Krista. I’ve totally got the super hots for Krista,” Ymir confessed. Sitting in the living room across from her Gran, Ymir was afraid to look up and see her reaction. It wasn’t because she was afraid her grandmother might be shocked and reject her for liking a girl, they’d had that conversation a long time ago, but because she never really talked to Gran about this kinda crap, and it was making her feel crazy uncomfortable.

“Well, no shit,” Gran replied, not looking up from her magazine. “Did you know they just found a kid who was raised by wombats?

“Gran, stop reading tabloids,” Ymir advised, laughing. “So, you knew, then?”

“About the blonde?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Ymir, with the way you’re always blabbering around her, following her around like a little lost puppy dog, I’d have to be a complete basket case to not have noticed.”

“You’re saying that like you’re not one already,” Ymir muttered.

“You know what? I’ve suddenly decided Blondie is way outta your league. She’s probably too polite and sweet to be interested in someone so immature, who can’t even bake pre-made cookies without nearly burning down the kitchen.”

“Hah, you think you’re insulting me, but the truth is I already knew that, so joke’s on you, old lady,” Ymir shot back, a smug smile on her face. “And the kitchen thing only happened twice.”

“You say that like you’re proud,” Gran pointed out, rolling her eyes. As much as she enjoyed the back and forth between the two of them, her granddaughter had a problem, and shed be damned if she didn’t try and help her figure it out. “So, what’re you gonna do?”

“I dunno. When I’m around her I get super nervous and lose the ability to speak like a normal person, or even a semi-normal person. Like, my mouth keeps moving despite the fact that I’m internally cringing and pretty much begging myself to stop. Everything comes out like a jumbled up mess. I get super clumsy, like, more clumsy than usual and always end up embarrassing the crap outta myself. It pretty much makes it completely impossible to do just about anything other than blabber incessantly. Then I usually face-plant, walk into something, or accidently find myself in a compromising situation.”

“I wish I could say I’m surprised.”

“Thanks. That was a real confidence booster. Were you a motivational speaker back in your day, you know, when powdered white wigs were the latest fashion and decapitation was the best form of entertainment you could find? Was ‘Blarg’ the caveman your first boyfriend, having wooed you after whacking you over the head with a boney piece of mammoth ass? Was your majestic steed a Stegosaurus? Can you remember that long ago?”

“Perhaps it’s a good thing you can’t talk around this girl,” Gran decided, obviously annoyed. “Listening to you turn into a blathering mess is probably far preferable to what you seem to confuse for a sense of humor.”

“I’m sorry,” Ymir muttered, drumming her fingertips along the rim of her coffee mug. She sighed, all of her earlier cockiness instantly deflating as she realized her jokes were just a clumsy attempt to hide her own humiliation. She was completely at a loss, and her grandmother was the only one with dating experience, even if it was super old information, that she could turn to. Well, Krista probably could have given her some advice, but for obvious reasons that option was impossible. Reiner may have, as well, but Ymir would rather run across the school campus, completely naked, than have to deal with his smug grin. “Gran, what do I do?”

Taking a deep breath, Gran set down her magazine, removed her thick reading glasses, set them down on the table, and studied her granddaughter’s face. “Just be yourself.”

“You’re mocking me, right?” Ymir asked. “Gran, you know me. Hell, you raised me. Just being myself is probably the worst advice in the entire history of crappy advice. I’ve walked into the same lamppost three times in the past month. Oh, and in art class we’re helping make the theater kids’ set. I stapled myself to a fake tree. In P.E. I was changing and accidently grabbed my underwear along with my shorts and ended up flashing over half the damn class. The other day I got my monthly friend and grabbed a highlighter instead of my tampon. Luckily, that was as far as it went, because had I eventually found neon blue in my tidbits, I would have fucking ran to the doctor’s office first thing, and that would have been the most awkward E.R. visit ever. Believe me, being myself is probably the last thing I should do.”

“Well it’s kept her around so far, hasn’t it?” Gran debated.

“Uh, well I guess that’s true,” Ymir admitted. There really wasn’t anything she could say to argue to that. “Maybe she has masochistic tendencies.”

“Look, I know you like her, Ymir. I mean, this is the first time you’ve ever sat down in front of me and admitted to having feelings for another person before.”

“You’re totally forgetting my crush on Barbie.”

“I mean a legitimate crush.”

“Are you saying mine and Barbie’s love wasn’t real? I’ll have you know, she let me undress her anywhere.”

“Shut your face and let me talk. You’re serious about this girl, I get that, but isn’t one of the best parts about being in a relationship the fact that you’ve found someone who loves you for who you are, rather than the person that you think they want you to be?”

“Eh, did you just say l-l-love?” Ymir stuttered, her brain stuck on the word.

“Ymir, all you can do is be honest with this girl and honest with yourself. Pretending to be someone you’re not in order to be with someone, well, the truth will eventually start unraveling. It always does. You don’t want to be in a relationship where, the moment a tiny flaw makes itself known, they leave.”

“Krista isn’t like that.”

“I should think not, otherwise she’d be long gone by now.”

“Again, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“What did you expect after the highlighter story? Just… just open yourself up and say what needs to be said. Would you rather run the risk of being rejected, or never even try?”

“Open myself up and just spill everything out? I dunno, I’d feel kinda pathetic, you know?” Ymir admitted. “It also sounds very Sweeney Todd-ish.”

“You say that like being vulnerable is some kinda weakness.”

“Well, isn’t it? I mean vulnerable, weak, defenseless, helpless, it’s all the same thing, right?”

“It takes a hell of a lot more guts to be vulnerable than it takes to pretend to be strong. Admitting your weaknesses, when you need help, your feelings, risking embarrassment… even some of the strongest people in the world can’t do that. Never be ashamed to be vulnerable. It’s about the bravest thing you can be these days.”

The thought of being honest terrified her. Imagining looking Krista in the face and admitting to her that she thought about her all the time made her feel like she was going to throw up. Thinking about it made shivers run down her body and her hair stand on end.

Perhaps Gran was right.

“That being said, there are certain obvious things that maybe you should hold back on for awhile,” Gran advised.

“Huh, like what?”

“Like perhaps the fact that you head into school twenty minutes earlier than you need to just so you can catch a glimpse of her before classes.”

Ymir’s jaw fell open slightly as she stared at the mysteriously well informed woman in front of her, wondering if the old bat was pulling a Charles Xavier and was secretly psychic.

“How the hell did you know about that?” She asked.

“Have you met your friends?” Gran replied, coolly grabbing her glasses before slipping them back on. She picked up her magazine and skimmed through the pages, attempting to find where she left off. After a moment, she looked back up at her granddaughter who was still watching her, shocked. “Grandma has her loyal spies.”

Gran’s attention reverted back to her reading material, signaling the end of their discussion. Feeling oddly confused and slightly betrayed, Ymir got up to head towards her room. “Damn jerks.”

She almost made it to the stairs when Gran called out after her.

“And don’t forget to mow the lawn and plant that rose bush for me.”

“Don’t forget? You never told me to do it in the first place.”

“Well, now I am.”

Pouting and suddenly feeling drained of all energy, Ymir trudged up the stairs, muttering obscenities under her breath.

* * *

 

Krista started walking that morning without a specific destination in mind, and yet she found herself standing in front of the same white, two-story house that she passed nearly every day on her way back from school. She took her time making her way up the walkway and hesitated for a split second before ringing the bell.

After a few long moments slipped by and no one had yet come to the door, Krista gave up, figuring no one was home. She turned around and got halfway down the driveway when she heard someone call after her.

“Hey, Krista right?” Krista turned around and scurried back to the door.

“Uh, yes ma’am. Is, uh, is Ymir home?” she asked, stumbling all over her words. Though she’d dealt with many wealthy and important people through her family, she’d always been able to talk… to schmooze with them easily, but there was something about Ymir’s grandmother that made her somewhat nervous. Perhaps it was her quick wit or that, unlike those other people, Ymir’s gran was always open and honest about her motivations. It could have also been that she just really, really wanted to set a good impression with the woman. Then again, it could also have been because she so often had pervy thoughts about the woman’s granddaughter.

Yeah, that was probably it.

“Oh yeah, she’s been cooped up in her fortress of solitude, or whatever the heck she calls it, all day.” Gran gestured for Krista to go ahead and enter the house. Not wanting to keep Ymir’s grandmother waiting, she quickly slipped in.

“Her fortress of solitude?” Krista asked. It definitely sounded like an Ymir thing to say.

“Yup, sometimes she calls it her bat cave, other times she refers to it as her room of requirement. You kinda just learn to go along with it after awhile.”

They passed the same collage of pictures that Krista had studied so intently the first time she came here. Again, she spotted the young girl who looked exactly like Ymir, but with differently colored eyes. Gran seemed to notice her curiosity, but merely offered a small smile before heading off in the direction of the kitchen.

“Uh, thank you!” Krista called after her before heading up the stairs. As she neared Ymir’s room, she could hear her excited voice filling the hallway.

“Yes! Yes! Almost there!” the excited voice rang out, and Krista could’ve sworn her heart fucking stopped. She reached the door, but couldn’t bring herself to open it. Ymir’s urging continued. “Yes, right there, don’t stop! Yes! Yes!”

Without really thinking or knowing what she’d do, Krista burst into the room, terrified of what she might see.

Ymir stood in the middle of the room, her gaming chair seemingly discarded behind her, with her PS4 controller in hand. She was bouncing on her toes as the character she was playing as, some chick with long hair, a massive sword, and very little clothes on, delivered the finishing blow to a massive, horned demon creature of some kind. As the monster fell to the ground, Ymir threw her hands into the air and began, what Krista assumed, was a victory dance. She wiggled her hips about while chanting, ‘eat it bitch.’ She didn’t stop until she spotted Krista, who had pulled out her phone and began filming the whole damn thing.

“What? Krista? Why are you here and, uh, what- what are you doing?” Ymir asked, completely and totally confused. “Uh, is that thing recording?”

“I learned a long time ago that if I simply film you, embarrassing things will eventually just start happening,” Krista cheekily explained, earning herself a frown. She joked around a lot, but really, she was just happy what happened earlier was a simple misunderstanding and not what she thought it may have been.

**_Er, what exactly did I think was going on in here?_ **

Krista shook her head, banishing the thought from her mind. Ymir was hers, damn it, she just didn’t know it yet.

“Delete it,” Ymir commanded, her voice authoritative. Krista shot her a you’re-a-little-dense-if-you-really-think-that’ll-work look. Ymir must have decided to change her tactics, because moments later she added, “please?”

“No chance in hell,” Krista laughed, slipping her phone into her pocket. “Sasha promised to pay me top dollar for these, you know.”

“Sasha’s paying you to take embarrassing videos of me?” Ymir asked, not quite able to fathom just how peculiar her friends were.

“Videos, photos, stories. She offered me double if I managed to get you to do something horribly embarrassing in front of them,” Krista admitted.

“Should I be thanking you for not taking advantage of such an opportunity?” Ymir questioned, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Nope, I have ideas of what I’m gonna do. I’m just waiting for a day where I’m strapped for cash to unleash it upon you.”

“Krista, this is me we’re talking about. I already embarrass myself enough on a daily basis.”

A knock at the door halted their conversation. Gran peeked her head in, and smiled kindly at Krista when she noticed her. A mere second later that same smile faltered when she noticed Ymir and the game controller still in her hand.

“Did you forget something?” Gran asked her granddaughter, and despite having not known the lady for very long, Krista could tell she wasn’t very impressed by whatever Ymir let slip her mind. That being said, she still had that kind, grandmotherly air to her, despite her fondness for the occasional swear word, that Krista’s own grandmothers very much so lacked.

“Uh, happy birthday?” Ymir guessed.

“Not quite.” Gran’s response was short and the intense look in her eye became stronger. Ymir turned to Krista.

“Happy birthday?”

“Wha? No. Not me,” Krista declined, shaking her head. Ymir seemed truly lost. Her brow furrowed and she absentmindedly stroked her chin, as if she was trying to remember something that happened in the far off past.

“I’ll give you a hint,” Gran smirked. “I told you to do it earlier before it got too hot.”

Realization smacked Ymir upside the head like Mikasa’s infamous backhanded slap… the one Eren was usually on the receiving end of. The color drained from her face as she stared at her grandmother, her face a picture of horror and despair. “You want me to go mow the lawn now?” she asked. It was fucking hot and the mere mentioning of her being forced to do any kind of physical exertion seemed, in Krista’s opinion, to sap her body of any and all energy it had.

“And plant my rose bush,” Gran added.

“No! Fuck no! It’s too damn hot for that, you crazy, old hag woman!”

“Ymir.”

“It’s the weekend! I’m supposed to spend it relaxing away from school, not being forced into manual labor by a demented, cruel, really fucking old psychopath.”

“Well, if you listened in the first place it’d have been done when the day was much cooler, wouldn’t it?” Gran pointed out. Ymir looked like she was about to retort in some way, but her grandmother beat her to the punch. “It’s your own fault; now get your ass out there before I find something else for you to do as well.”

“But Krista just got here,” Ymir reasoned, pointing at her. “It’d be rude for me to abandon our guest.”

“Just because the majority of my daily social interactions are either spent with my socially inept granddaughter or yelling at the idiots on my television, doesn’t mean I can’t entertain your young guest for an hour or so,” Gran mused, smiling proudly at Krista before adding, “if she plans on staying, that is.”

“Oh, but what if she can’t stay that long and she came all the way over here only for you to send me off to die in the hot, unforgiving sun?” Ymir’s pleading eyes fell on Krista, as if they were begging for her to save the girl from such a torturous fate.

“Oh, I can wait,” Krista chirped.

Ymir glared at her as her shoulders sank.

“Short Stuff, you have betrayed me,” she decided.

“Yep, looks like it.” Krista smiled, rocking back and forth on her feet.

“C’mon into the kitchen, Krista. I have the A.C. blaring and just made a fresh pitcher of lemonade,” Gran beckoned, gesturing for Krista to follow her. She obliged.

“Oh, that sounds delicious. Would you happen to have any embarrassing Ymir stories?” Krista asked, feeling particularly devious. Gran stopped in her tracks, turned to face Krista, and smirked.

“Sweetheart, have you met my granddaughter? Her whole life is practically one long embarrassing story.”

* * *

 

Krista sat across from Ymir’s grandmother at her kitchen table, her hands cupping the glass of lemonade she’d been served. She ran her fingers along the rim, before finally deciding to ask Gran the question that had been on her mind since the first time she’d visited Ymir’s home.

“Uh, Mrs… er,” Krista only just now realized she had no idea how to address Ymir’s grandmother.

“Gran’s fine,” she chuckled. “That’s what all of Ymir’s other friends call me.”

“Oh, okay, Mrs. Gran,” Krista corrected herself. Gran chuckled softly, her eyes shining gently. It was pretty pathetic that in the couple of short encounters she’d had with the woman, she already felt a deeper fondness for her than she felt for the majority of her own family combined.

“What is it, dear?” Gran’s personality had done a complete turnaround from the feisty woman who’d been bickering with her granddaughter.

“Um, that photo by the door… the one with the young girl who looks almost exactly like Ymir,” Krista mentioned. She wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but what looked like a flicker of sadness flashed across Gran’s features for a brief moment. The only evidence that it had been there was the foggy look in the old woman’s eyes. Had she blinked, Krista would have missed it. “I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized. “I shouldn’t have asked.

“No, no… it’s alright,” Gran assured. She looked down into her coffee cup, unable to hold back a sad smile. Something about it seemed so hurt, it made her want to hug the lady, despite barely knowing her. “That’s my daughter. Ymir’s mother.”

“I’m- I’m so sorry,” Krista apologized immediately. Suddenly the sad look on Gran’s face and several of Ymir’s little comments she accidently let slip by made perfect sense. She was raised by her grandmother, and never mentioned either of her parents.

Krista was an idiot. A complete idiot. If anyone should’ve known better, she should have been that person.

Gran seemed to take note of her internal screaming, because she instinctively patted Krista’s hand, doing her best to set her at ease.

“It’s nothing like what you’re thinking, dear,” Gran assured her, allowing Krista to release the breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding in. “I don’t think it’s really for me to say, at least I think you should hear the whole story later when Ymir’s ready to tell you, but, well, just know her mother wasn’t ready to take care of herself on her own, much less a child. She selfishly tried a couple times, and I stupidly let her.”

Gran left it at that, but Krista could tell she was recalling some very unhappy memories.

“She talks about you a lot,” Krista mentioned, hoping to pull the sweet woman out of her funk her question had put her in. Gran looked up at her, a quizzical glint in her eye. “When I first came here I was a little shocked. I’ve never heard a grandmother and granddaughter talk to each other the way you guys talk to one another. I asked Ymir about it, and she said she adores you.”

Krista got up from her seat and walked across the kitchen so she could peek out the window. After a couple seconds, she felt a presence beside her, and knew Gran had joined her.

Outside, Ymir was carefully planting Gran’s rose bush. Apparently she wasn’t cautious enough, because moments later Ymir sprung back, shaking her hand. Krista couldn’t help but chuckled as a steady stream of swear words flowed from Ymir’s mouth. She flipped off the plant, not having noticed her audience.

Gran shook her head, unable to lose the sweet smile on her face.

“You know, she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes,” Gran mused.

“Oh, I’ve noticed.”

“She has a tendency to be lazy and is the most oblivious person I know,” Ymir’s grandmother eyed Krista. “Right?”

Krista nodded, unable to meet Gran’s eye. “Right,” she agreed. “Especially when she’s playing games. It’s like she enters an entirely different world and can’t hear a thing you say.” Gran chuckled and nodded.

“She also thinks spinach is evil. She even wrote an essay about it. It’s on the fridge,” Gran laughed. “She’s a fair bit beyond neurotic and her obsessions are way not normal… and yet she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Krista looked back out the window just in time to watch Ymir’s victory dance. She pranced around, thrusting her pelvis and doing what Krista assumed was meant to be the robot. Without having to be out there to hear the entire conversation, she already knew Ymir was probably mocking the rose while shaking her ass in its general direction.

A small, crooked smile tugged at her lips, and she couldn’t help but wonder when exactly her simple crush had blossomed into love.

* * *

 

“Your mother was a weed and your father was an earthworm, bitch,” Ymir accused, smack talking the rose bush her Gran made her plant. Krista couldn’t help but laugh as she watched the girl’s bizarre, yet adorable antics.

Ymir whipped around so fast, she flailed as she nearly tripped over her own feet. Krista reached forward to steady her, winning herself a sheepish smile. It was straight-up adorable, and she found herself unable to decide which was her favorite, her shy smile, her devious smile, the smile she got while playing A.O.T. with her friends, or the one she saved only for Krista… the one she saw on very rare occasion when Ymir thought Krista wasn’t looking.

“Er, the rose tried to bite the crap outta me,” Ymir explained. “So, uhm, I decided to hit it where it hurts and, er, well you know. Flowers are very sensitive about their mothers, so yeah. Uh… Is a rose technically a flower? I guess it is… kinda like how a square can be a rectangle, but a rectangle isn’t always a square thing, I suppose a rose can be a flower, but a flower can’t always be a rose. Seems kinda fucked up to me. Like, what if it was a daisy’s lifelong wish to become a rose? What’re we supposed to do? Crush its little flower dream? It doesn’t seem right, though why a daisy would want to be a rose is beyond me. I mean, it’s like, it’s a flower, you know? Petals, leaves, stem, all that shit… except it also is a thorny little bitch, too-"

Ymir continued to ramble, but Krista didn’t hear a thing. She was too distracted by the babbling girl standing in front of her. She’d come to the realization that she loved Ymir only moments ago, but now? Now she had something very different on her mind.

Ymir’s exposed shoulders were glimmering with a thin layer of sweat, and Krista could see the muscles of her arms twitch as she gesticulated while she spoke. A light spray of freckles painted her tan skin, and it was like Ymir was created for the sole purpose of tempting Krista, making her have pervy fantasies like some teenage boy. Her tank top was damp around the neckline, and Krista’s eyes followed a slow bead of perspiration as it trekked its way down the side of Ymir’s face, and slipped down her neck, disappearing into the cloth that hugged her torso.

Ymir, seemingly noticing Krista had observed just how drenched she was, began apologizing, as if her current state was disgusting, and not the massive turn on Krista had actually found it to be.

Ymir slipped her hand under the bottom of her sweat-drenched shirt before tugging it upwards, using it to wipe the perspiration away from her eyes. She was completely unaware that her actions just exposed her tight, lean stomach to the now openly gaping Krista.

“How the hell?” Krista was completely confused. “You play videogames all day, live off soda, and I’m fairly certain the only thing I ever see you eat is junk food. How the hell are you so hot?”

Ymir’s face went pink. She tugged her shirt up to cover her flushed cheeks, but seemed to quickly realize this exposed even more of her body and the entire underside of her Pokéball bra. She whipped her shirt back down, her eyes wide with horror, but instead ended up pulling too far and once again showed off her bra, but this time the red top. Muttering obscenities, she quickly threw her arms over her chest region, crossing her arms in front of herself, her skin turning a deeper shade of crimson as the seconds ticked by.

“Well?” Krista asked, expectantly.

“Uh… well, y-you know, vir-virtual reality’s the next big thing in g-gaming… and er, Mikasa, Sasha, Eren, Armin, and I all agreed that we’d n-need to be in good shape for that, you know? It’d be pretty pathetic to be super close to a high score only to end up a steaming pile of death on a virtual floor just because you can’t manage to catch your breath in reality.”

“Is that really necessary?” Krista questioned. “Though I’m not complaining or anything. Definitely not.”

“It totally is! We’ve been doing Gran’s workout videos from like… the eighties. Mikasa spends the entire time cursing out the instructors, especially when they lie and say there’s only one more set, only to make you end up doing four more, but it’s totally necessary. Last week I was playing Wii-baseball with Sasha and ended up throwing out my arm. Armin played the boxing game and nearly keeled over during the first round. The worst, yet totally the best, was Mikasa’s Wii-golf game. She kept telling Eren to stop walking in front of her while she was playing, but he just wouldn’t listen. One swing and a high-pitched shriek later, and I’m fairly certain Mikasa won’t be having nieces or nephews anytime soon.”

“You threw out your arm playing a videogame?”

“Er, yeah,” Ymir admitted.

“That’s really sad. Now I’m kinda embarrassed for you.”

“Krista, this is me we’re talking about,” Ymir pointed out. “When are you not embarrassed for me?”

She had a point.

* * *

 

Krista sat in the middle of Ymir’s bedroom floor, laptop in front of her, waiting for a particularly long loading screen to pass. She absentmindedly clacked her finger’s against the keys, stuck in a complete and utter state of boredom as Ymir had decided to run off and take a shower.

When the game finally began again, tiny, virtual Krista ran around town, buying upgrades and replacing her blades, having dulled out all the old ones. Once fully stocked up, Krista was ready to go venture outside the walls, and attempt to do some titan fighting completely on her own for the first time.

As she neared the gates, Ymir’s bedroom door cracked open and Ymir walked in, body glistening from the droplets of water that had yet to be wiped away. A blue towel hung around her shoulders, probably to use to dry her still dripping hair. Krista used the distraction as an excuse to rake her eyes up the girl’s form, unable to help herself.

Boxer shorts exposed Ymir’s smooth, long legs and her white t-shirt clung tightly to her body, making Krista’s head spin in a holy-shit-that’s-hot way. She slinked across the room before flopping over onto her bed, allowing her wet towel to slip off of her and land in a pile on the floor. At some point her shirt had managed to inch up slightly, and Krista’s brain automatically went back to the moment she first caught a glimpse of Ymir’s freckled stomach.

She was absolutely phenomenal, yet seemingly had no idea. Even the kids at school had yet to clue in to the gloriousness that was Ymir. How did they not notice how adorable she looked when she stammered on her words, her cheeks going red and her eyes falling to her lap, unable to maintain eye contact? How did they not instantly fall upon seeing the girls playful smirk, only for it to falter when one of her friends made a sarcastic comment? How did they not notice that Ymir had the body of a freakin’ Greek goddess… like Artemis or something. Was Artemis the one who only hung out with chicks? Lesbian much? Wait, wasn’t she also the goddess of virginity? On second thought, perhaps this was a bad idea.

Either way, either Ymir was totally playing everybody and simply knew how to keep her irresistible hotness secret from prying eyes, or she was the most oblivious seductress ever.

Krista was completely lost in her thoughts, trying to figure out at what point her brain decided freckles were the sexiest thing ever, when the girl in question pulled back from the blanket she’d snuggled into, rested her hand against her hip, and shifted onto her side so she was facing Krista.

Yep, most oblivious, unconscious flirt ever.

“So, what’d you and the crazy, old crone talk about?” Ymir asked, her gaze falling down to the bed beneath her, and Krista realized that despite her nonchalant attitude towards it, Ymir must have been truly nervous that her Gran may have dropped some interesting tidbit and embarrassed the crap outta her.

“Oh, nothing out of the usual,” Krista recalled. “Just horribly embarrassing things I’ll use to blackmail you in the future.”

“Everyone at school thinks you’re a sweet, kindly Goddess,” Ymir muttered. Krista scoffed in mock surprise.

“Are you saying I’m not?”

“I’m saying you should tell me whatever Gran told you and maybe, perhaps, I’ll forgive you.”

Abandoning the computer game, Krista crawled over to where Ymir was, sat cross legged on the floor, and rested her chin on the edge of the bed, her face inches away from Ymir’s. Krista could practically feel the heat radiating off of Ymir’s flushed cheeks. It was a dirty trick, yes, but this whole almost getting there only for a pervy phone call, or an annoying intruder to interrupt them was beginning to drive Krista crazy.

She looked down at her the floor and bit her lip, before peeking up at Ymir. “Perhaps you’ll forgive me? Is that the only way?”

Ymir audibly gulped, her eyes falling to her Batman bed sheets. “She… uh, sh-she didn’t t-tell you about the wisdom tooth thing, did she?”

Krista smiled devilishly. No, she hadn’t heard the story, but if she played this right she might be able to. “Ymir, this is your grandmother we’re talking about. Of course she told me what happened.”

“What? Seriously?” Ymir asked, her eyes wide with panic. She leaned back, her movements becoming more flustered as she spoke. “Look, it was totally the medication they gave me. I didn’t mean to hit on all those people, especially that old lady. The bagger chick at the store… well, she may have been slightly intentional, but I didn’t mean to stare at her ass for so long!”

“Ymir?”

“What?” Ymir pouted.

“You hit on an old lady?”

“Well, she was wearing relatively modern clothes and I only saw her from behind at first and- wait, Gran didn’t tell you about the old lady part?”

“Er, she didn’t tell me about any of it. I was just curious and you’re crazy gullible,” Krista admitted.

“Wh-what?” Ymir blankly stared at Krista for what felt like a full minute. Krista shifted in her spot uncomfortably. Slowly, after it looked like Ymir finally finished processing the information, she raised her hand to her head, gently rubbing her temple. “I’m usually smart, I swear.”

“I know,” Krista chirped, smirking. “You just have the adorable tendency to turn into a bumbling, naïve idiot when you’re around me.”

Ymir rolled her eyes. “No need to look so proud of yourself.”

“Why not?” Krista whispered, leaning in so close to Ymir. “I happen to enjoy making you flustered.”

Krista heard the sudden intake of breath, and was certain that if she was touching Ymir, she’d be able to feel her heart beating just as hard and quickly as her own was. Her eyes darted down to Ymir’s lips, and she found she couldn’t look away. They were so tempting, so lush, so close.

She was going for it and nothing, not a damn thing, was going to stop her.

Krista’s eyes began to slip closed when a man’s voice chanting “ass ‘n titties” burst out from between them. Krista’s eyes shot open just in time to see the color drain from Ymir’s face.

Nothing would stop her, except maybe that.

Krista felt a rumbling in her pocket and realized the music was coming from her, which was bizarre as she’d never heard the song before. On the one hand, that was pretty much the worst timing ever, but on the other hand, the thought of that song going off when she was at home, and worse, in front of her step-mom, sent a shiver down her spine.

She slipped her hand into her pocket and was about to pull out her phone when a sudden, piercing pain attacked her forehead. She reeled back, clutching her head.

“What the-”

“I’m sorry! Shit, I’m sorry,” Ymir blurted, clutching her own head as she scrambled off the bed. It would appear, in her desperation to silence the song, Ymir smacked her head against Krista’s, effectively knocking her over. Damn that girl had a hard head.

She lunged for her pants, which had been discarded on the floor, but whatever she was searching for must not have been there, because she cursed and ran over to her computer. When the music didn’t stop after she exited out of her music program, she unplugged the desktop for good measure.

Still nothing.

“Big booty bitches that’s where it gets,” the song continued. “Come on, hoe, let’s go to the easy rest.”

Ymir ran to her laptop and slammed it closed. Meanwhile, Krista, pain finally starting to ease in her head, grabbed her phone out of her pocket.

“Er, it’s mine,” Krista pointed out, earning herself an incredulous stare.

“Yours?” Ymir asked, as if the statement made no sense, whatsoever. Krista looked down at her phone.

“Annie’s idea of a joke it seems.”

“Wonder where she got the idea from,” Ymir snorted, looking relieved. Krista couldn’t blame her; Ymir was probably used to being the ass of her friends’ jokes. “I think she’s been talking with Mikasa too much.”

“Er, I’ll be right back,” Krista excused herself, walking out into the hallway. She answered her phone amid a repetitive chorus of “ass.”

* * *

 

“Annie, I’m going to kill you,” Krista threatened, leaning back against Ymir’s door. She closed her eyes, wishing her friend was there so she could show her just how serious her threat was. “Do you realize how embarrassing that-”

“Did it work?” Annie interrupted.

“Did what work?”

“I was hoping the song would subliminally get Ymir to check out your… assets.”

“Do you realize that had I been at home and that went off, I’d be disowned?” Krista interrogated, fuming. She was so close. So frickin’ close. Had Annie just waited one more damn minute, Ymir would have been hers. “Anyways, Ymir’s almost always checking out my ‘assets.’”

            “No worries. I knew you were at Ymir’s place.”

            “Oh? And how did you manage that?” Krista asked, flatly.

            “I have spies.”

            “Are you over at Mikasa and Eren’s place?” Krista asked, somewhat shocked. There was a long silence on the other line.

            “Er, I have to go, bye!”

            The line went dead.

* * *

 

            Ymir sat on her bed, pretending to be extremely focused on A.O.T. when Krista walked in. Krista took one glance at her, sighed dejectedly, then trudged over to her laptop before plopping down onto the ground.

            That was close. Really fucking close.

            It wasn’t that Ymir didn’t want to kiss Krista. Hell no, it definitely wasn’t that. It was just that her body had a tendency to go into full out, spastic panic whenever Krista got that close to her. As much as the interruption somehow relieved her in a bizarre way she didn’t understand, it also made her want to toss out every electronic that had the remote possibility of playing a pervy song because, damn it, she also wanted to kiss Krista with every fiber of her fucking body.

            Ymir continued to hack at a titan’s mutilated corpse until tiny bits of its brain were chipping off, sloshing across the screen. It was overkill, yes, but she needed to get out all this pent out frustration somehow, and who better to vent on than a douche giant with a creepy ass smile?

            She wished she had enough guts to do what she wanted to, to claim Krista’s lips as hers, but she was just pathetic, clumsy, lame-ass Ymir. Why Krista had any interest in her, she would never know.

            “Fuck,” Krista huffed, pulling Ymir out of her self-deprecating thoughts.

            “What?” Ymir asked, peeking over at her. Krista was leaning in, close to the laptop screen as her fingertips furiously jabbed at various keys. She was biting her lip in concentration, and Ymir wished she had a photographic memory, because she never wanted to forget what hardcore, gamer Krista looked like.

            “Some asshole is attacking me.”

            “You’re out fighting titans on your own?” Ymir asked, surprised. At Krista’s level, fighting titans on her own should have been incredibly difficult.

            “No, I’m in the city. Some asshole just came up and started attacking me.”

            “What?” Ymir asked, pissed. It was true, there were troll jerks who went around, attacking new players, killing them and waiting for their victim to respawn so they could do it again for shits and giggles, but due to her advanced level, Ymir hadn’t had to deal with them in a very long time.

            She looked down at her computer and realized there was no way she had enough time to get to Krista’s character before she was killed. She cursed under her breath before jumping off the bed, running over to where Krista was, and sitting behind her, focusing on the screen to see just how bad the situation was.

            “Okay, you may actually be able to get out of this,” Ymir pointed out, taking in what upgrades the douche had equipped. “But you’re gonna need to buff your character real quick”. Krista, instead of listening, kept hitting the attack button. Figuring Krista was too engrossed to hear her, Ymir leaned in closer, until her lips almost grazed her ear. “Open the menu screen. I’ll tell you what to do. C’mon, I know you can do this.”

            Krista froze, her fingers and her character no longer moving. Realizing virtual Krista was just about on the brink of death, Ymir decided to take over.

            She opened the menu screen and, first things first, healed Krista’s character with a med pack. She then, fingers flying across the keyboard, activated the necessary perks. Once everything was set, she exited out of the screen and began the closest, most epic battle she’d had in a long while. What with how often she played with her friends and her high level, most of her fights recently hadn’t been too much of a challenge, at least not as much as they used to be.

            “Don’t worry, I’m gonna kick this fucker in his Jigglypuffs,” Ymir assured, dodging her opponent’s attacks, only to combat roll and stab him in the ass. She didn’t want to just defeat this jerk, she wanted to embarrass the crap out of him. No one picked on her Krista. No one.

            Krista leaned back and Ymir could feel her back press up against her. Had this been any other time, Ymir would have spazzed out, but right now she was too damn absorbed in the fight.

            After a few more rounds of surprise attacks, the challenger swung his swords frantically, his character flailing in an attempt to hit Krista’s character. Ymir, who hadn’t yet been touched a single time, waited for her opening. When she saw it, she slashed at the troll with one swift, solid blow, and his head teetered back and forth on his neck, before sliding off his body and rolling across the cobblestone ground.

            Ymir grinned smugly, oddly proud of herself.

            “Did you see that?” Ymir asked boastfully. She tore her eyes away from the screen to look at Krista, and it was only then that she realized Krista had been staring at her the entire time.

            Her hands were still on the keyboard, her arms on either side of Krista, and Ymir became painfully aware of how close Krista was. The girl’s body was pressed against hers and Ymir couldn’t help but notice how her very own frame seemed to envelope her perfectly.

            Krista pulled herself up onto her knees and turned around, so she was facing Ymir. Slowly, making sure nothing she did made Ymir too uncomfortable, she slipped her arms around her neck and leaned in until their noses touched.

            “K-Krista?” Ymir stammered, her heart thundering so hard she was certain Krista could feel it.

            “Can I?”

            The question hung in the air as Ymir stared into Krista’s big, blue eyes. She expected a teasing smirk, but it never came. Instead, Krista looked just as nervous as Ymir felt, and for some reason knowing this was just as scary to Krista put Ymir at ease. Did she expect her to reject her and say no? The look on her face seemed to hint so, and it was the first time Ymir had ever seen Krista so vulnerable.

            Her mouth suddenly felt dry and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Instead, she found herself nodding before she even realized what she was doing.

            Soft lips brushed against hers, sweet, full, and Ymir’s mind went blank.

 


	11. Trinity

**Chapter 11: Trinity**

Krista leaned in, and the scent of Ymir, fresh from recently taking a shower, nearly overwhelmed her senses. It wasn’t floral, but more of an herbal, natural scent. Krista recognized it from the many times she’d run into Ymir before class would start, her hair still damp and messy, having been too lazy to mess with it when she could, instead, used those precious few minutes to sleep.

She wrapped her arms around Ymir’s neck, unable to fight the desire of wanting to be closer to her. Before she knew what she was saying, the question had left her lips and all thoughts of allowing herself the time to think it over vanished. She was glad it did.

The moment their lips touched an electric shock pulsed through her body, and her heart beat so hard she was certain Ymir could feel it.

The kiss was gentle and slow. She didn’t want this to be some quick peck, over before she really had any time to take it in. She wanted to remember just how it felt to hold Ymir so close. She wanted to remember the way Ymir’s stuttering breath fluttered across her lips right before they touched. She wanted to remember the sweet taste.

She was delicate with her movements, not wanting to scare the often anxious Ymir, so it was a genuine shock and she almost melted when she felt Ymir hesitantly rest her hand against her hip, her fingers trembling.

There was no urge to take things further yet, no desire to rush things. She wanted to take her time. Ymir was far too important and just being able to kiss her was more than Krista ever thought herself lucky enough to do.

That being said, the kiss was still over far too soon for Krista’s liking.

Ymir looked up at her, a dazed look in her eyes. Her cheeks were a brighter shade of pink than she had ever seen them turn before, and Krista couldn’t help but smile, knowing she’d caused Ymir to react so strongly.

Ymir’s body was tense and rigid against Krista’s, showing no signs of easing anytime soon. In fact, Krista mused that she kinda looked like a deer in the headlights… completely oblivious, brain completely blank, and running purely on survival mode.

“Are you okay?” Krista asked, her voice shaking slightly from the laugh she was attempting to stifle. Ymir nodded, her eyes falling down to her lap, unable to look Krista in the eye, and a sudden splash of insecurity threatened to drench Krista’s bright and bubbly mood. “Uh, did you not like it or-”

Ymir’s face whipped back up, her eyes wide and mouth slightly gaping. “Of course I liked it… I just, I just,” she stammered. “You k-kissed me. You, Krista, the Goddess who I’m not supposed to call Goddess, because you hate being called Goddess, and holy fuck I just said Goddess three times. No, wait, four times. Shit. Er, but yeah, you kissed me and now my words won’t work and my brain is fuzzy, and it was so scrambled when it happened, when you ki-ki-kissed me, and now I’m trying really hard to remember it, but I was so nervous I can hardly remember a damn thing. But… but it was my first kiss, and my first kiss with you, and why the fuck is my brain being such a bitch and not letting me remember my first damn kiss?”

Krista smirked, watching the anxious girl’s crazy antics, and feeling the incontrollable urge to tease her.

“You don’t remember our first kiss?” Krista asked, her voice laced with mock-pain.

“Not intentionally,” Ymir replied, shaking her head, obviously panicked and trying to explain why it wasn’t her fault. “I-I couldn’t help it. It’s… you… and Gran told me I should just say it, say how I, er, how I… ugh, never mind.” Ymir hung her head, obviously frustrated by her inability to sort out whatever she needed to say.

“Hmm, we’ll just have to remedy that the next time.” Krista’s coquettish charms made Ymir’s breath hitch.

“Uh, ne-next time?” Ymir asked, obviously surprised as she tripped over her words. Krista smirked, leaning in so close she was certain Ymir thought she was about to kiss her again.

“Yeah, next time.”

* * *

 

            Ymir leaned back against the door of her house, staring down at her green Converse, while Krista continued to smile up at her, a smug smirk on her face was still there, refusing to go away. Ymir hadn’t yet had a chance to process exactly what had happened, but she knew the moment Krista left, that kiss was all she’d be thinking of.

            “So, I’ll see you at school then?” Krista asked.

            “Uh? Oh, uh, yeah. See you at school.” To say Ymir was tongue-tied, a total space head, and brain dead would have been the understatement of a century.

            Krista began making her way down the walkway, but froze. Ymir, slightly worried, was about to ask if everything was alright when Krista turned around, ran back to her, leaned up on her tip-toes, and pressed a quick kiss to Ymir’s cheek.

            Ymir pressed her hand to her cheek, her skin growing hotter by the second, and watched as Krista made her way down the driveway, walked along the street, and disappeared from her sight. Trying to keep her calm for at least another brief moment, Ymir slipped back into her house, and closed the door behind her.

            She couldn’t control the uncharacteristic squeal that seemingly escaped from deep within her. She broke out into a full sprint and dashed into the kitchen where she found Gran making dinner. She pounced on her grandmother, hugging her fiercely, while giggling. Gran most likely horribly confused by the situation, pressed the palm of her hand against her granddaughter’s forehead, unable to hide her concern.

            “Are you sick or something?” Gran asked. “Or maybe you’ve been replaced with an alien intruder who, despite wanting to dominate the human species, is still a bit more pleasant than the original Ymir.”

            “Despite you being a crotchety, sassy bag of dust, I still frickin’ love the crap outta you,” Ymir replied, pulling her Gran in even closer. “She’s amazing, Gran. Absolutely fucking amazing. I mean, holy crêpes. It’s like my brain’s exploding because of how frickin’ awesome she is.”

            Ymir was now bouncing up and down on her heels, unable to keep still. There was a big, stupid grin on her face, so big it was making her cheeks hurt a little. Gran grabbed Ymir’s shoulders, slowly pushed her away, and held her at arm’s length.

            “Who are you and what have you done with the real Ymir?” Gran asked, warily. “You know, the forgetful, lazy, usually a massive ball of teenage angst and rage, with a penchant for video games and being a general pain in my ass…”

            “Nothing you say could ruin this feeling, you evil, old hag. Nothing!” Ymir pulled out of her grandmother’s arms dashed out of the kitchen and bolted for the stairs. “Nothing!”

            She tore the door to her bedroom open, cleared her room in two big leaps, and flung herself onto her bed. Grabbing her pillow, she burrowed her face into it, and let out a crap load of girlish shrieking, the likes of which would put all those damn teen movies she was forced into watching to shame. She kicked her heels against the blanket beneath her and giggled until she couldn’t breathe anymore. Once she finally let everything out and gained back control of her own actions, she flung the cushion to the ground and let out a contented sigh.

            “Er…Ymir?”

            Ymir’s body turned to stone. Like, could not move, legit frozen, like that statue of the naked David dude that she had to draw in art class or those poor petrified Hogwarts students after accidently spotting the reflection of a basilisk’s stare, stone. Biting back the dread and the painfully hard thumping in her chest, she steeled her nerves and slowly turned her head towards the door.      

            Krista Lenz, in all her super fine, undeniably irresistible, Goddess-like glory, was standing in Ymir’s doorway, eyes wide and mouth agape, with a light blush creeping across her cheeks, tinting the tips of her ears pink.

            “Uhm,” Krista muttered, unable to tear her eyes away from a mortified Ymir, “I forgot my phone.”

* * *

 

            “As you all know,” Armin announced, beginning what Ymir figured was going to be one of his long, boring, supposed to be motivational, but was actually a genuine snooze-fest, speeches, “the preliminary rounds for the A.O.T. tournament are next week and-”

            “Er, they are?” Ymir interrupted.

            “Crap,” Mikasa mumbled against her scarf.

            “Well, shit,” Sasha cursed. “You should have told us this earlier, Armin. I would have stayed home practicing instead of going to that all you can eat place over the weekend with-”

            “No you wouldn’t have,” Eren pointed out.

            “Okay, no I wouldn’t have,” Sasha agreed, “but I would have felt bad about it.”

            “Again, no you wouldn’t have,” Eren reiterated.

            “Shut up and let me at least pretend so I don’t get in trouble, okay?”

            “I need to find new friends,” Armin muttered, rubbing his temple.

            “You say that a lot, but never actually get these new friends.” Mikasa had pulled her scarf down so it wasn’t covering half her face as it usually did. “I sense an empty threat.”

            “I sense a disturbance in the force.” Sasha chirped in.

            “I sense a disturbance in all of my friends’ brains,” Armin complained. “Friends who aren’t gonna win the beta competition because you’ve all been slacking like crazy.”

            “Hey, it’s not my fault I’ve been busy,” Ymir huffed. “Anyways, I train all the time.”

            “It’s true,” Mikasa added. “And, I mean, the Goddess is showing interest in her. Videogame betas come and go, but Ymir being the possible object of Krista’s affection? The likelihood of something like that happening is practically one in a million.”

            “Hey, I take offense to that,” Ymir pouted.

            “So then you don’t think it’s true?” Sasha asked.

            “I never said that. Obviously it’s true. It’s just still kinda offensive how true it is, that’s all.”

            “Pretty much winning the lottery would have been more likely,” Eren explained.

            “She’d have a better chance to get bit by a radioactive spider and turn into Spiderman,” Mikasa added. “Er, sorry, Spiderwoman.”

            “Ya’ll are some pretty craptastic friends,” Ymir muttered. “Like, really, the worst.”

            “Oh, oh, I have one,” Sasha added. “She’d have a better chance of sneaking into the girl’s restroom at school, hissing at the sink, and discovering the chamber of secrets.”

            “She’d have a better shot at breeding a shiny Pokémon with perfect IV placements than she’d have of hooking up with Blondie,” Mikasa decided.

            “Oh, snap.” Sasha giggled.

            “Gigantic asses, the lot of you.” Ymir was now pouting, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

            “Could we focus on the matter at hand?” Armin asked. “You know, the bit about how we need to train more?”

            “Hey, I play every day,” Eren huffed.

            “We all do.” Armin pulled his laptop out of his backpack and set it up on the kitchen table. The group had all congregated in the Jaegers’ house after he had called an emergency meeting. “But what we need is to practice together as a team. It doesn’t matter how strong we are individually if we can’t work well together as a team.”

            “Dude, I think you forget, Ymir can turn into a frickin’ titan,” Sasha reminded him. “This thing is gonna be a piece of cake. She’ll like, just rip the crap outta them, devour their souls, and we’ll call it a day.”

Ymir, who seemed pleased with Sasha’s plan, leaned back in her chair and grinned cockily. The smug grin irritated Armin who, as usual, kept getting interrupted while trying to get his point across.

“Maybe if she had more time to practice that’d be true, but she doesn’t even know how to fully work everything yet. Not to mention she can’t even trigger the transformation before reaching a kill count of twenty without dying.” Armin glared at the loading screen, wishing it would move faster as it was wasting valuable training time. “The titan form is strong and fast, that’s for sure, but you have to be precise, otherwise you’re gonna end up killing us all as well. Anyways, haven’t you noticed that when you turn titan, more enemy titans than usual seem to appear?”

“What’re you talking about?” Ymir asked as she finished killing another of the massive creatures, bringing her to the needed kill count. She quickly changed into her titan form. “I mean, look at this and tell me I’m wrong.” Her character jumped into the middle of a swarm of titans, her quick titan’s long claws easily taking out all who came near her. It was then that Armin’s character spawned, right in the middle of Ymir’s path. “Oh shit!”

Ymir attempted to redirect her titan, but in the heat of the moment, she got her scout form’s controls and her titan form’s controls completely mixed up and ended up slashing at Armin’s character. Despite her attempt to avoid him, she watched in horror as the videogame version of her friend slumped to the ground, his body split horizontally right down the middle.

Armin, now extremely irritated, looked up from his computer, his thin lips turned into a scowl as he glared at Ymir, and told her, “You’re wrong.”

* * *

 

Ymir, tired and completely drained from a long day of titan slaying and working on her teamwork skills which admittedly needed some polishing, slumped into the house and began to trudge upstairs to her bedroom.

“I’m home,” she called, half-heartedly behind her. Gran answered back, but Ymir didn’t catch it and was too brain-fried to be bothered to go back and check.

Despite working at it for hours, Ymir just couldn’t get the controls for her titan form down. She was fairly certain Armin was just about ready to kick her off the team after she accidently eviscerated his character for the seventh time. She’d even managed to kill Eren, Mikasa, and Sasha’s characters several times as well. If she didn’t get her shit together, not only would she miss out on the A.O.T. beta, her friends would probably kill her.

Ymir dragged her feet down the hall and made her way into her room, thankful that the Jaegers’ home was so close to hers, because had it been any further she probably would’ve passed out on the side of the road somewhere. As it was, she’d barely made it this far.

That being said, in her half-conscious state, it took Ymir a bit longer than she would have liked to admit to realize that there was someone sleeping in her bed. Someone incredibly attractive, blonde, and who seemed to have passed out while taking notes of some sort, because her face was now resting against the open pages of her notebook, pen still in hand. She probably should have listened to what her grandmother had attempted to tell her, because seeing Krista sprawled out on her bed was most definitely something right out of Ymir’s fantasies, and she had to pinch herself to make sure she was awake.

Setting her bag down on the floor, Ymir grabbed her blanket and gently draped it over the sleeping girl. Realizing the only way she could get some much needed sleep would be to lay down next to Krista, Ymir decided to go with the safer option and attempt to get in a little more practice. She definitely did not want to invoke the wrath of Armin again.

* * *

 

“Ymir?’ Krista called out, her voice heavy with sleep.

Ymir sat in the middle of the room, glaring furiously at her laptop, as if her high level of suck-age was the computer’s fault. She was definitely getting better, but progress was slow and nowhere near good enough yet.

            Krista’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She glanced up at the girl and felt her stomach drop. Tired, blue eyes peered at her, as if they were trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Her hair was messy, most likely from her sleeping position, and Ymir had to stop herself from whipping out her phone and filming her as she rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes, attempting to wipe away the sleep.

            “Well, hello there, sleeping beauty,” Ymir greeted. “It appears your hair’s defying gravity.”

            Krista groaned, running her hands over her hair in an ill-attempt to smooth it out. Ymir couldn’t help but think that only Krista could look so perfect having just woken up. The ink on her cheek, most likely transferred from the notes she passed out on, just added to the adorableness.

            “What’re you doing?” Krista asked, groggily.

            “Attempting to not suck at this damn game.” Ymir motioned to her laptop, her character having just fazed back into scout form. “I’m trying to figure out the parameters for my titan form. I think the gang’s kinda pissed at me, so I’m trying to get my shit together, you know?”

            “Er, why are they angry?” Krista asked, her head tilted to the side. Ymir, once again, had to resist the urge to openly fawn.

            “Er, so we may have discovered just how dangerous the titan form can be to one’s allies.”

            “Uh-oh”

            “Yeah, I killed them all. Multiple times. It was kinda funny at first, but then it just got sad.”

            “Oh, I’m sure they were all thrilled.”

            “Eren said a few colorful words, but it was fine. I’m totally used to it. You should hear Gran when she’s driving. Let’s just put it this way, my first word was ‘fuck’ for a reason.”

            “Why am I not surprised?” Krista asked, peeking back down at her notebook. She patted the spot on the bed next to her. “When you’re done with that, wanna quiz me on this crap for my History test?”

            “Yeah, of course!” Ymir replied, almost too excitedly. Attempting to rectify the situation, she shrugged her shoulders and cleared her throat. “Uh, I mean sure. Just give me five minutes to finish off this transformation and get to town so I can save.”

            “No need to hurry, I can wait-”

            “No!” Ymir interrupted. “Er, I mean, I was pretty much done anyways, and I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting. I mean that would be terribly rude, you know? I’m totally fine with finishing this off now. Anyways, my eyes are starting to feel a little fuzzy, so it’d probably be for the best if I called it a day soon.”

            In a hurry to get to Krista, Ymir began the kill count again. While practicing with the others, they’d realized that only the titans she slayed herself counted towards the kill count, so even if her group killed dozens of them, she still wouldn’t be able to go all badass titan mode until she got her own twenty kills in. She also could only stay in her titan form until she lost a certain amount of health, at which point she’d faze back into a regular scout. Generally, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but, as Armin had noticed, whenever she turned titan, it was as if all the other titans forgot about their other opponents and zeroed in on her, instead. This was great for her teammates, but she didn’t like being the equivalent of a scratching post.

            She glanced over her shoulder at Krista, quickly peeking to see what the girl was doing. What was supposed to be a hasty glance turned into a long stare. She really, really wanted to finish this game up so she could join her.

            Krista was laying on her stomach, her feet kicked up in the air, reading from a massive textbook. There wasn’t exactly anything unusually sensual about it, yet Ymir found herself lost in thought. How was it that someone so amazing, so kind, so beautiful was in her room, on her bed, patiently waiting for her? It felt right having her there, as if it was something she could easily get used to.

            Remembering her game, Ymir turned back to her laptop just in time to see her character disappearing into the mouth of a four-meter titan.

* * *

 

            After finishing her shift and getting back to town, Ymir pushed her computer away, refusing to look at anything even remotely resembling a titan for the rest of the day. She set her laptop on her desk, and stretched out her back. Prolonged hours of sitting hunched over her laptop left her feeling like she’d just finished a wrestling match with a wookie.

            “All done?” Krista asked, looking up from her book.

            “Uh, yeah,” Ymir replied, eyeing the spot on the bed Krista was currently motioning for her to sit in. She’d been so gung-ho before, but now that the moment was upon her, she could feel herself tensing up. She did as Krista wished, and nervously sat right next to her. It was insane that, after knowing each other as long as they had, simply sitting next to Krista still made her so anxious. “Er, do you have a study sheet or something you’d like me to go over with you?”

            “Hmm, I think I’m done studying, actually,” Krista mused, and the way she said it made Ymir think that maybe, just maybe, studying had been a ploy right from the beginning. “Uh, you know, I don’t think my brain can handle anymore right now.”

            “Oh, uhm, okay,” Ymir muttered, nodding in agreement. “Happens to me all the time. Well, not all the time. I actually don’t have to study too much. I retain information like crazy.”

            “I actually kinda had something I wanted to talk to you about,” Krista confessed, grabbing Ymir’s hand to steal her attention, causing Ymir’s entire body to stiffen. Ymir stared at their connected hands, wishing she could will her heart to stop thumping so damn hard.

            “Is this about that bed thing and the weird noises I made while hugging my pillow?” Ymir asked, feeling a telling blush coming. “I just, uh, well, I was very excited about my new pillow, you know?”

            “No, this has nothing to do with that-”

            “Did Gran say something weird to you while you guys were alone together?” Ymir blurted out. It was only a few days ago that Ymir had told her Gran about her feelings for Krista, and she wouldn’t put it past the woman to have told her all about their embarrassing discussion.

            “No, your Gran was lovely, as usua-”

            “Then was it one of my friends?” Ymir interrupted. “It was Sasha, wasn’t it? I’m gonna kill that damn Potato Girl.”

            “What? Sasha didn’t do anything. Well, not that I know-”

            “Then it must’ve been Mikasa. Oh, unless it was Eren. It must’ve been Eren… but, then, Armin was really pissed off earlier.”

            “Ymir-”

            “Was It something I did? Did I offend you or something? I’d never do that intentionally, I swear!”

            “Damn it, Ymir,” Krista huffed, attempting to get a few words in before being interrupted. “I think you’re amazing, and I was wondering if, maybe, just maybe, you’d be interested in-“

            This time it wasn’t Ymir who interrupted Krista, but the buzzing of a phone. Oddly enough, there was no pervy song this time, which Ymir found peculiar as every time she was called recently, Chrissy Amphlett would start singing about touching herself.

            “Uh, hold that thought,” Ymir muttered, not noticing the embarrassed and disheartened look on Krista’s face. She stared at the phone, not recognizing the number. She hit the ‘accept call’ button and raised the cell to her ear.

            “Hello?” Ymir asked, figuring it must be a wrong number or some outside caller wanting her to answer a survey.

            “Ymir?” The voice on the other line made Ymir’s heart drop. Her brain swirled, and it was as if she was reliving that cold, December day all over again. She felt like she was going to be sick. Desperately, she looked up at Krista, knowing the girl had no idea what was going on, yet somehow wishing she could, in some magical Goddess way, make it all go away. The voice on the other line continued. “Hey, it’s mom.”


	12. Diana Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's Grimsley  
> So, as of this chapter everything should be up to date and I'll be able to update on both here and on FanFiction at relatively the same time... which means you'll actually start getting author's notes from me. Lucky you... I feel like we've missed out on so much together... intimately.  
> Note to self: do not write author's notes when sleepy. I mean, we barely even know each other and here I am picturing you-  
> No... no, we won't go there. I'm far to pure and innocent to go there right now. Or at least I won't write it out. Picturing it in my head? Yes... oh yes.

**Chapter 12: Diana Prince**

* * *

 

            Ymir’s head was a complete mess. For the past week, she’d lost all ability to function properly and she was fairly certain that the empty threat her nerdy friends constantly voiced, the one about finding new friends to replace her with, was now being considered a bit more seriously. Especially Armin. Dude was seriously close to blowing a circuit due to Ymir’s complete and total lack of focus.

            She hadn’t told any of them about the phone call yet. She wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it. It wasn’t exactly every day that one’s deadbeat mother called completely out of the blue, throwing her kid’s fragile emotional stability into complete and total disarray. It was as if her mind had somehow transformed into one of those old Where’s Waldo books, only the striped bastard had decided to skip town, leaving Ymir searching for a figure who was never going to be there.

            She trudged into the game shop. It was funny how this place was usually her security blanket, the one place she could go to that she knew would make her feel better, and yet she felt nothing. No happiness, no excitement, no nervousness.

            Eyeing the game room, she deduced by the massive flock of people that the preliminary rounds would be taking place in there, but decided to hang back instead of joining in. The area was pretty damn packed, and having to deal with a bunch of rowdy gamers, all fighting over the beta that she and her friends had already claimed, was pretty much the last thing she wanted to deal with right now. Instead, she stuck by the vintage consoles, studying the excited crowd from a distance.

            Her relative peace didn’t last long.

            “Ymir! Hey, Ymir!” Sasha called from atop the clerk’s desk, Reiner staring up at her bewildered. She waved, beckoning Ymir to come closer, before turning to the rest of the gang. “Guys, she’s over here. Come on, hurry your asses!”

            Plastering on her fake smile, Ymir begrudgingly made her way to her friends, slightly surprised to see both Annie and Krista there as well. She’d barely spoken to Krista since that night a week ago, and she never found out what she’d wanted to tell her. It wasn’t like she was avoiding her; she was just being careful to not get caught alone with her, or any of her other friends for that matter. She had so much crap whittling away at her brain, and this was no time to be a burden to everyone else. She’d keep it bottled up, tucked away, until the haziness faded. Then, once things had calmed down, she’d mention it in casual conversation, laughing like it was no big deal. Her friends would probably get pissed, knowing how important that phone call had been, but it was the only way Ymir knew how to deal with such a shit storm.

            Ymir nodded a greeting as she reached the nerds. Armin, who was pacing next to the Nintendo action figures, eyed her up and down, his frustration fairly obvious.

            “Where’s your team uniform?” he asked, gesturing to his clothes. Ymir’s stare darted from Armin, to each of her friends. Sure enough, her teammates were all decked out in A.O.T. wear, their attire matching that of the Scout characters they played, from knee-high boots to green cloaks with insignias everywhere. “Also, you missed the announcement of the rules. We’re playing last, if you’re at all interested.”

            “Give me a break.” She rolled her eyes. “I had to take the bus here and I didn’t want anyone giving me crap for my bizarre getup,” Ymir muttered, shrugging. She’d been against the idea from the first place. Despite the way her general clumsiness tended to force it upon her, Ymir hated to stand out. “And I didn’t feel like cramming into that room with everyone else,” she continued, nodding in the direction of the gaming room. “I was getting some mad claustrophobia feels and decided to hang back.”

            “Oh, are you alright?” Krista asked, stepping closer, her fingertips brushing against Ymir’s forearm. Worried blue eyes stared up at her, the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen, and it took all of her strength to not let everything, every worry, come tumbling out. “You seem a little... off.”

            Well, shit. This was exactly why she’d been doing her best to evade being alone with Krista. She was way too observant, and being around her made Ymir feel like she could tell the girl anything, yet still be accepted.

            “Just have a bit of a headache,” Ymir replied. Technically it wasn’t a lie. Ever since she heard her mother’s voice after so long, years in fact, her head had been spinning, reeling, and just being a straight-up asshole. The guilt gripped her; however, when she felt Krista’s gentle touch begin to massage her back. She wanted to get lost in the touch, but right now she had to focus on the mission at hand. “Er, so what did I miss? How’re we doing this thing?”

            “For the preliminaries, it’s trial by wave,” Eren announced, dramatically.

            “What the what?”

            “Kinda like in Call of Duty when you go all multiplayer and have to take on wave after wave of baddies, but minus the helicopters and guns, and add gigantic, ugly ass giants and an individual titan kill count,” Sasha explained. “So, for example, we’d start off with a small wave of fairly weak titans to fight off, probably around 4 meters tall. Then the next wave is a bit stronger and bigger, and so on and so forth. Then, if we get really far, there are some of those freakish special titans with weird abilities… er, no offense.”

            “None taken.” Ymir shrugged.

            “About that,” Armin sighed, adjusting his jacket. “I’m thinking it’d be a good idea to stay away from the titan shift for now.”

            “What? But I’ve been working my ass off trying to get it down for the last week!”

            “It’s not ready,” he replied. “And I’d prefer to save it for the finals. No need for all of these people to know our secret weapon.”

            Although Ymir was still semi-pissed about the whole cancellation of her titan shifting badass-ness, especially after dedicating so much time working out its kinks, she couldn’t really complain, especially after the last bit.

            “Each team is allowed five deaths,” Eren mentioned, adding in on the information Sasha gave earlier. “So technically one person can get killed off all five times, or it can be split between all the members. Once you hit five,” he dragged his finger in a slitting motion against his neck, “you’re done. There are twenty teams competing, and only the top four will make it to the finals.”

            “So one hundred people are in this thing?” Ymir asked, making sure she understood. “I’m kinda surprised they could fit that many people in this place. Then again, I guess it could have ended up being a hell of a lot more.”

            “Only teams whose members are over level eighty can compete,” Armin stated. “It’s a battle of the elites.”

            “Level eighty?” Krista squeaked. She had only just recently hit level seven.

            “We’re kinda badasses in the world of gaming,” Sasha informed Krista, looking overly proud of herself. “Like in a sea of high schoolers, we’d be the Power Rangers. If we were Pokémon, we’d be the legendary ones. If everyone else were random Hogwarts students, we’d be Hermione-”

            “What about Harry and Ron?” Eren asked, interrupting.

            “Hermione’s the best, obviously, so we’d all be Hermione,” Sasha pointed out. “Like, you know how in the beginning of ‘Finding Nemo,’ there are all those fish eggs, then that evil scaled bitch comes on over, knocks the crap outta daddy fish, then eats all the baby eggs except one? We’d be that sole egg survivors.”

            “So, what you’re saying is you guys should have your competition cannibalistically devoured, in order to lead to your inevitable victory?” Annie asked, smirking.

            “Of course not!” Sasha shook her head, laughing. “That would be wrong. Unless…”

            “Sasha, no,” Mikasa warned, having pulled down her scarf.

            Potato Girl sighed sadly. “You never let me have any fun.”

* * *

 

            Eleven teams had already failed to make the cut, and the current top four scoring teams were pretty much just a messed up, bundle of nerves, all hoping their scores would remain untouched and undefeated. Five teams had yet to compete.

            After all the teams that had obviously lost and who weren’t interested in sticking around left, the store was a lot less crowded, so Ymir and her group were gathered in the tournament room, focusing intently as the sixteenth team got ready for their turn.

            It had been a good distraction. At first Ymir was focused, taking in everything she could as she watched, remembering how teams played, how the titans advanced and taking mental notes of the challenges she’d have to face in the near future. Her friends did the same. Armin had even brought a journal and was taking down notes furiously.

After the first few teams finished; however, Ymir found her attention starting to drift. Whenever she caught herself doing this, she’d force herself to snap out of it, determined to stay in the zone.

She was doing pretty good, too, until she her eyes fell on a small girl, sketchbook in hand, gripping a marker in her tiny fist. She scratched furiously at the paper, and Ymir drifted into a long avoided memory, one she wished she’d forgotten long ago.

* * *

 

_Ymir had barely slept that night, and unlike most winter mornings, she was more than willing to emerge from her bed once morning arrived. Sure, her blankets were warm and cozy and the snow outside made the air nippy, but this was Christmas and, better than any present Santa could have given her, Ymir’s mother had promised her she’d visit. In fact, when Ymir wrote her letter to Santa in her second grade class, she didn’t ask for a single toy. She just wanted to see her mom._

_In her whole seven years, Ymir had never met her mother in person. She’d talked to her on the phone on rare occasion though, and she always seemed like a pretty nice lady. She would talk to her about things, things Ymir didn’t quite understand, but she’d pretend to. She desperately wanted her mom to like her, so if she said she liked something, Ymir decided she liked it, too._

_Ymir ran to her writing desk where her present for her mom waited. She shoved the markers that covered it out of the way, and picked up the picture. She studied it, her eyes flitting from the drawing of Gran, to the one of her, then finally to her mother. She wasn’t exactly sure what her mom looked like, but she decided to make her hair purple. Ymir liked purple._

_She gingerly tucked the picture under her arm, before rushing out of the room, practically flying down the stairs. She rushed through the living room, not even noticing the stocking, presents, and huge Christmas tree, and instead rushed into Gran’s room. She pounced onto the bed, only to find it was empty. Frowning, Ymir checked under the blankets, just in case. No Gran._

_Puffing out her cheeks and perfecting her glare, Ymir stomped out of the room. All ideas of pouting vanished from her mind when she recognized the sweet scent of pancakes and syrup._

_Ymir dashed to the kitchen so fast, she was just barely able to stop before skidding into the refrigerator, thanks to her socks. Giggling, she hopped over to where her grandmother was standing, washing dishes, and, with one tiny hand, yanked at the hem of Gran’s shirt._

_“Is she here, Grandma? Is she here?” Ymir asked, unable to mask her excitement. She was practically bouncing up and down as she waited for a reply, a huge smile on her face. “She said she’d be here early, right?”_

_Grandma chuckled, tossed down the dish rag she’d been using, and, with one hand against her back, lead Ymir to the kitchen table. Ymir’s eyes went wide as she took in the massive pile of pancakes in front of her. As of last week, they were her seventh most favorite thing ever._

_“Go ahead and eat, Monster,” Gran urged. “Your mom should be here any time now.”_

_“When I finish can I go out and wait for her?”_

_“If you bundle up first. It’s pretty chilly out there,” Gran warned._

_“Okay!” Ymir grabbed the syrup from the table and poured a massive heaping onto her breakfast._

_“Ymir, I don’t think the pancakes are supposed to be swimming in syrup.”_

_“But they’re best like that. It’s like eating and drinking all at the same time,” Ymir explained as she began shoveling the food into her mouth, until her cheeks popped out like a chipmunk’s. She was half way through chewing her massive bite when she noticed something peculiar. “Gran?”_

_“Mhmm?” Gran was sipping her coffee, but her mind seemed to be in a far off place. Her eyes were settled on the front door._

_“Why are these pancakes shaped funny?”_

_“They’re supposed to be shaped like reindeer.”_

_“Oh, uh, okay,” Ymir nodded, prodding her food which resembled a big blob more than anything. She was so not seeing Rudolph at all._

_“Why?” Gran asked._

_“Er, no reason,” Ymir lied. After finishing most of the pancakes, she took one last masive bite before leaping up from the kitchen table, still chewing, and bolted for the front door._

_“Ymir!” Gran called out after the girl. Ymir screeched to a stop. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”_

_“Er,” Ymir’s tiny face scrunched up as she focused, trying to remember what important thing it was she managed to forget this time. “Happy birthday?” Gran sighed, shaking her head and rubbing her fingers against her temple._

_“Jacket, Ymir, go grab your jacket.”_

_“Oh, yeah!” Ymir giggled as she ran back to the coat hanger, grabbed her super poofy, blue jacket, and pulled it on, then slipped into her polka dotted rain boots. She was about to step outside when she realized she totally forgot about the drawing she made for her mother. She ran back to the table, smiled cheekily at gran, and grabbed the present._

_It was super cold outside, but Ymir didn’t mind it in the least. Letting out a content sigh, she sat down on the doorstep, picture in her lap, and waited, her eyes focused on the road in front of her._

_Minutes dragged on and she became increasingly distracted by the foggy clouds her warm breath created. Ymir was completely and totally enraptured by it, watching her breath disappear on the wind._

_She continued to wait._

_Gran stepped outside and handed Ymir a pair of mittens, then took her place beside her granddaughter. She watched carefully as Ymir put her gloves on, and helped her when she couldn’t quite get her tiny fingers to cooperate._

_“Hey Gran, look!” Ymir let out a long, steady breath. Warm, white steam rushed from her lips. “I’m a dragon,” she stated, proudly._

_“You probably got that from my side,” Gran assured. “The forgetfulness is all from your grandfather. Also the snoring.”_

_“I don’t snore!” Ymir huffed._

_“Oh, really? Then you must have a bear sleeping in your room with you.”_

_Ymir attempted to glare at her grandmother, but soon found herself bursting out in a fit of giggles. She couldn’t help it. She was too excited and in too good of a mood to pretend she was angry._

_An hour of waiting passed by. Gran, though obviously cold, continued to sit beside her._

_“Do you think she got lost?” Ymir asked her grandmother, frowning._

_“I wouldn’t be surprised. She never was good with directions.” Gran took off her glasses and began cleaning them off, despite the fact that they didn’t have a single mark on them. It was a little tick, Ymir would later learn, that her grandmother often did when nervous and deep in thought. “Let’s give her another half hour, and if she doesn’t show up, I’ll call her.”_

_Ymir nodded. It was a good plan. She just wished Mom would hurry up. She had so many things she wanted to show her, so many things she wanted to tell her, and so many things she wanted to do._

_Half an hour went by with no change. Gran went inside to make the call._

_Ymir held the picture tight against her chest. She no longer had any feeling left in her cheeks, and her hands, despite being covered, were balled into tiny fists in an attempt to keep them warm. Why was her mom so darn late?_

_She wanted to run all the way down the walk way and pounce into her arms. She wanted to give her the picture first thing, the picture of her, Gran, and now her mom, all together. It was the first time she’d gotten to draw a family picture that had more than two people in it._

_Ymir’s faith in her mother refused to wither, even as one hour melded into two, then three, then four._

_Gran had asked if she wanted to go inside and open her presents while they waited, but Ymir refused. Her mom was coming. Christmas would just have to wait until she arrived._

_Time continued to pass by._

_Ymir’s smiles became less frequent as the day rolled on. Every so often she would shoot her grandmother a concerned look, as if her Gran had some super human ability to make her mother show up, or as if there was some secret way to get ahold of her that they hadn’t yet tried._

_Then it started to sprinkle._

_A droplet of rain fell on her drawing and Ymir, quick as a bunny, wiped it off, but it was quickly replaced by a second drop and a third. Frantically she wiped at the paper, desperate to keep her present safe._

_“Let’s bring it inside, sweetheart,” Gran advised, but Ymir knew better. Her grandmother only ever called her things like ‘sweetheart’ and ‘honey’ when something was wrong. She looked down at her picture, saw the splotches of dampness that littered it, and slowly nodded._

_She stood from her spot, and her eyes made one last desperate sweep, but her mother still wasn’t there. Ymir couldn’t wrap her brain around why mom hadn’t come. She promised._

_As she turned to walk into the house, her partially frozen fingers lost the weak grip they had, and the piece of paper fluttered out of Ymir’s grasp. She ran after the drawing as it was swept away by the wind, twisting and turning on its currents. As it began to spiral into its descent, Ymir reached for the drawing and felt it graze against her fingertips, but it was just out of her reach. It fell to the ground, settling in a large puddle of rain water._

_Trembling hands quickly, yet gently grabbed the present, bringing it close for immediate examination. There was Ymir and Gran, a little soggy, but fine for the most part. The third person, however, became nothing more than a large, purple blur._

_“Ymir?” Gran asked. Her voice cracked._

_Shoulders slumping, Ymir turned back to the door. The day had already begun to grow dark and it would soon grow colder._

_As she walked up to the house, she took one last glance behind, even though she now knew her mother wouldn’t be there. She sighed, watching the cloud her breath formed disappear in the wind._

* * *

 

            “Earth to Ymir,” Sasha waved her hand in front of her friend’s face. “Dude, come back to me.”

            Ymir snapped out of her day dream, shaking the old memory from her mind. It took her a moment to remember where she was and what she was doing. Her heart was thudding hard against her chest, but not in the good way that just seeing Krista seemed to do to her. No, this way hurt. “Uh, Sasha?”

“There she is!” Sasha cupped Ymir’s face in her hands. “Oh, my sweet Ginger Snaps, it is I, your Sasha! The light of your life and empress of your-”

            “Dude, did you get in the pixie sticks again?” Ymir questioned, eyeing her friend suspiciously.

            “Hells yes I did, and I’m not even slightly ashamed. The sugar buzz keeps me agile and slightly neurotic. It’s perfect for gaming.”

            “Alrighty then,” Ymir muttered, trying to shake off the shadow looming over her. Sasha stared at her intently, her eyes slowly narrowing.

            “I feel like there was something I was supposed to tell you,” Sasha confessed, her eyebrows scrunching up as she stroked her chin.

            “We’re up next,” Armin announced to the group. He stood up and set his notebook down on the chair behind him.

            “Oh yeah, that was it!” Sasha recalled. “Oops.”

* * *

 

            Ymir sat in front of her laptop, waiting for the load screen to fade away. Taking the time to trade nervous glances with the rest of her team, she was met by reassuring grins and a Sasha who was currently bouncing in her chair, riding her sweet sugar high. They had this. They’d pretty much been training for this moment for years.

            If they wanted to advance past the preliminary rounds, they had to surpass the fourth place team’s score of one hundred and fifty-six kills, and her team seemed confident that they could do it. Still, that was a whole fuck-load of titan corpses.

            Closing her eyes, Ymir let out a deep breath, and attempted to clear her mind. This wasn’t the time for some teenage life crisis. She had all the time in the world to wallow once this fight was done, but for now she had to focus.

            Because Ymir’s team was the final team to compete, the top three scoring teams were already guaranteed a spot in the finals, but a quick glance told her the fourth place team didn’t seem so worried. In fact, it appeared they were already celebrating their victory. She’d love proving them wrong.

            Her attention was pulled back to her laptop as the black loading screen faded into a cut-scene. The five scout group waited for the tall gate to open, then made their way to the other side of the wall. They now found themselves in the ruins of what once was the land protected by wall Maria before it had been breached years ago. Snow covered the ground, blanketing a portion of the devastation. Sure, it wasn’t real, just a virtual world she spent her free time exploring with her friends, but often times she found herself more affected by the tragedies that happened here. This was her escape, the one place she could go to when life decided to be a massive pain in the ass. She came to it when she was at her worst, and she and her friends knew it better than anyone else.

            Her jaw clenched as she watched the horizon, noticing a small dot in the distance. She readied herself as the titan neared.

            Its arms hung uselessly at its sides, flopping around as it ran erratically at them. Ymir felt a shiver run down her spine when she noticed the wide, open mouthed grin on its face. She had to hand it to the dude who designed these fuckers. They were creepy ass bastards; the kind of things nightmares were made of.

            Before Ymir could make any preparations for the attack, Mikasa had shot off. One moment the titan was lunging at her, trying to catch her in its massive teeth, the next Mikasa’s swords were slicing through the flesh at the back of its neck.

The first of their enemies fell to the ground, its steaming body melting the snow beneath it, and Ymir found herself oddly hypnotized.

* * *

 

_Ymir’s mother eventually showed up; however, she was seven years too late._

_She had appeared completely out of the blue one day, while Ymir was at school. Ymir came home to find a woman, who looked an awful lot like her, sitting at the kitchen table. There had been a long, awkward stare, then a moment of realization. Her mother smiled, to which Ymir turned around and went upstairs, leaving the stranger alone._

_The days following were spent with her mother attempting to make small talk, but Ymir wouldn’t have it. She knew she was probably acting childish, and that being so immature was beneath her, yet every time the woman tried to tell her something, Ymir found herself rolling her eyes and ignoring her, delving deeper into whatever she was doing in an attempt to convince her mom that she didn’t give a shit._

_Then, one day, her mom walked in as Ymir was practicing her guitar, singing quietly along with it._

_At first Ymir had been against the advice and occasional lessons, but somewhere along the way she began to listen. She didn’t forgive the woman, nor did she ever voice any sort of approval, but her mom was truly skilled and it would have been stupid to have missed out on her tutelage.             Apparently that’s what she’d been doing this whole time, Ymir soon found out. After giving birth she longed for, more than ever, the life she dreamed of; one with stages and crowds, spotlights and people singing along to her songs. She was sixteen when she left._

_Eventually her mom met Mikasa, Eren, Armin, and Sasha. Her friends seemed to be quite taken with the woman and told her about the little band they’d formed. Ymir wasn’t surprised that her friends liked her. She could be quite charming, a bit of a bad girl, and, though Ymir would never admit it, her stories were actually quite interesting._

_After a week passed by, her mom took it upon herself to have the teens scheduled to perform at a local coffee shop. Her friends were wildly excited, but Ymir was still uneasy and irritated, feeling her mother was over-stepping her bounds big time._

_Still, she eventually invited her mother to come and watch them perform. Her mom, who seemed to have decided, in the span of seven days, that she was ready to be a devoted mother, said she would. Ymir became disgusted with herself when she realized just how happy that had made her._

_Later that night, Ymir sat at a small table with her friends in the coffee shop. They were scheduled to have started playing ten minutes ago, but Ymir had convinced the manager to allow them a little longer to wait. It was all for not._

_When Ymir stepped in front of the microphone, she found herself scanning the seats in front of her, searching for the mother she knew wasn’t there, yet again. Mikasa counted them in and a gentle guitar rift played from Eren’s guitar. Sasha soon joined in with her bass line, while Armin stood in front of his electric keyboard, waiting for the moment he was meant to come in._

_Ymir opened her mouth, but nothing came out._

_She must’ve stood there for a solid twenty seconds, mouth agape, searching for the words she was meant to sing, but no matter what she did or how hard she struggled, the lyrics refused to come out. After another ten seconds passed, she stuttered an apology before running off the make-shift stage and bolting out of the shop._

_She pulled her jacket tight around her until it was pressing against her ribs. Tears of anger formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She was enraged. She was pissed. She was embarrassed. She wanted to give that bitch a piece of her mind._

_Mikasa and Sasha ran after her, leaving the boys to take care of their instruments. Her friends walked with her in the dark, all three shivering, all three cold, and all three wondering what they would find when they reached Ymir’s house._

_When they eventually did, Gran stood out on the front step waiting for them. Trading a worried glance with her friends, she ran to her grandmother._

_“What the- are you okay?” Ymir asked, eyeing her clearly upset grandmother._

_“I’m sorry, Ymir.” Gran didn’t need to say anymore. She knew that when she walked inside all traces that her mother had been there would be gone. She ignored the sick feeling in her stomach that was pulling her down._

_“Not exactly a surprise,” Ymir shrugged, motioning for Gran to go ahead and head back in. When Ymir didn’t follow her, her grandmother shot her a confused stare. “Let me say bye to Mikasa and Sasha real quick.” Gran nodded and slipped into the house. She knew there’d be a longer discussion later._

_Ymir turned to her friends, both watching her, most likely unsure of what to say. Ymir was about to tell them she was fine. She was going to tell them that it didn’t bother her, that she probably just had a case of severe stage fright, and that’s why she totally fucked up at the coffee shop. She stepped up to them and took a deep breath, ready to explain._

_Foggy air slipped from her lips as she exhaled. Ymir watched it disappear into the air, then fell to her knees._

* * *

 

“Ymir, this is so not the fucking time for daydreaming,” Eren growled as he was nicked by a titan’s palm. They already had three deaths against their team, but only needed eight more kills to beat out the fourth place team. The only problem was their life was getting ridiculously low. Their current state was most likely Ymir’s fault. Of those three deaths, two of them had been her, due to sheer lack of focus.

            Ymir came to right in time to dodge a thirty-meter titan’s fist as it slammed down, aiming to squash her like a bug. Instead, she jumped onto the creature’s hand and ran up its arm. She dashed from shoulder to shoulder, raking her sword against its flesh as she did so. At the same time, Eren and Mikasa worked together to take down a couple titans, while Sasha saved Armin from narrowly becoming titan chow, before finishing the bastard off.

            She rushed over to where Mikasa and Eren were. They probably hadn’t realized it yet, but they were about to be swarmed.

            Armin and Sasha joined them. Everyone was running low on supplies, and they still had four kills to go.

            They were fast, way faster than Ymir had expected. As she made the leap from one building to another, she’d failed to notice the titan lurking on the ground, waiting for her. It pounced, mouth wide open, and there was nothing she could do.

            A black and red blur flashed across Ymir’s screen, and the next thing she knew a fourth death was added to the count against them, but it hadn’t been hers. She quickly turned the attacking titan into a heaping pile of smoking flesh before scanning her screen. Mikasa was missing, and it’d take a couple minutes for her to respawn.

            Fuck.

            Aside from being a brilliant fighter, Mikasa was a genius when it came to crowd control. Add on top of that the fact that Armin, Sasha, and Eren had very little life left. Things were looking straight up bleak.

            “What the- why?” Ymir growled, jumping to safety.

            “You’re the one with the most life left,” Mikasa muttered, her scarf making it difficult to understand her. “You’re gonna need to take lead. Everyone else play support. If anyone other than Ymir takes another hit, we’re done. Stick to evasion. Ymir, play smart. Whatever the hell you were doing earlier? Don’t do that again.”

            It may have been brutal, but Ymir knew she was totally right. She allowed her own personal issues to fog her brain, and now her friends were paying the price for it. Gritting her teeth, she quickly glanced at Krista, who was watching the battle intently from the edge of her seat. Ymir nodded, more to herself than to anyone else.

            “No worries,” Ymir gloated, shrugging, “they’ve awoken the beast.”

            “Next time set a fucking alarm for the asshole,” Eren complained, jumping out of the way as a titan blindly grabbed for him.

            Ymir zeroed in on the handsy titan who was groping wildly at her friend. She was easily able to take it out while it was distracted, before moving on to another smaller titan. Might as well get rid of the easy ones first, as she only needed one more kill to tie for fourth place.

            As she made her way towards a small, four-meter titan, her attention was pulled to a sudden commotion on her right side. A massive, blond haired titan was running directly at her. Just as she was about to bolt out of its path, the titan dove at her, its body sliding against melted snow, its open mouth beckoning her.

            Ymir launched her character into the air, using the titan’s massive nose as a platform. She ran up its forehead and flipped over its massive head, sinking her blade straight into the back of its neck.

            There was a loud groan to Ymir’s left as the fourth place team realized she had just matched their score. She was so caught up in the whining that she failed to notice the small, four-meter titan sneaking up behind her. By the time she saw it, there was no time to react.

            Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes clenched shut as she awaited the inevitable crunching sound, a signal her character was being crushed between the titan’s gigantic molars. It never came.

            “Mikasa, you majestic, mother fucking goddess!” Ymir laughed. Her friend’s character, matching virtual red scarf and all, stood atop the titan’s body, posing like some badass legend from old action movies, her dark hair billowing in the virtual wind. Ymir heard some sniffling to her immediate right and figured Armin was probably crying in relief.

            “Hey now,” Mikasa mumbled. “Don’t go using your girlfriend’s pet names on me.”

            “Jackass!” Ymir’s face went hot at the mentioning of her and Krista being in a relationship. She couldn’t help but steal another peek at the girl who could take her from badass to whimpering mess in a matter of seconds.

            The truth was the phone call from her mother wasn’t the only thing that had been bothering Ymir. Before she accepted the call, Krista was in the middle of saying something, something that had made her nervous.

            Ymir couldn’t help but wish she’d never accepted that damn call.

* * *

 

_“Hey, it’s mom.”_

_Ymir felt sick. Her head was spinning and she couldn’t will away the extreme nausea battling within her. She didn’t trust herself to try and speak, so she didn’t._

_Her eyes met Krista’s and with a single look, she tried to convey the years of hurt, mistrust, and the self-deprecation this woman had forced upon her, without having to say a word about it all._

_“Ymir?” the voice on the other line asked. Ymir closed her eyes, and took in a deep, easing breath._

_“Sorry, wrong number.” Ymir hung up the call. Moments later, the phone rang again, but this time she ignored it. Krista eyed the phone curiously, but she remained silent until the ringing stopped._

_“Uh, Ymir? Are you okay?” Krista asked, worry painting her features. She placed her hand against Ymir’s knee, and Ymir just about jumped a foot. “Oh, geeze… I’m sorry.”_

_Steadying herself, Ymir shrugged nonchalantly, before turning her phone off. “Uh, could we finish this conversation later? My head… uh, it’s starting to hurt. I think I should try laying down, you know?”_

_“Is there anything I can do? I mean, I think I should have something in my bag,” Krista offered, grabbing her bag and pulling it into her lap. “Or maybe some warm tea? I think I saw some downstairs last time I came here. I could put a pot on-”_

_“No,” Ymir blurted out, probably more hastily and forcefully than she should have. “Er, I mean, no thanks. I have some. ”She didn’t want to hurt Krista, and she didn’t mean to brush her off, but she was about to have a full fledged panic attack and she didn’t want to be seen like that. She had a lot to think over, and she couldn’t do that with her present company._

_“Well if you want maybe I could rub your-”_

_“Krista, please?”Ymir whispered, unable to look her in the eye. Krista nodded, slipped her bag over her shoulder, and silently left the room._

_Ymir furiously swiped at the tear that betrayed her, effectively erasing its presence._

* * *

 

Eleven kills later, Sasha was cornered and ended up getting squashed under the ass of one of the twenty meter monsters. Despite her character popping like a water balloon, spraying blood and guts all over the snow, Sasha had a massive smile plastered on her face as she pounced onto Ymir, making a weird squealing sound she usually reserved for her favorite desserts or when she saw a particularly adorable puppy.

            “Was it as good for you as it was for me?” Sasha asked, earning herself an eye roll. “Was it?”

            “Could’ve lasted a little longer,” Ymir replied flatly, shrugging. “Honestly, I think I may have spaced out for the majority of it.”

            Sasha dramatically clutched at her heart, her face contorting into an expression of mock pain, which quickly changed into a kinky smirk. “In that case we should try again. The Jaegers’ place. After Party. I’ll be the one-”

            “Standing in the kitchen, shoveling pepperoni pizza into your face?”

            “Darling,” Sasha smirked, wiggling her eyebrows, “you know me so well.”

            “Sasha, people who’ve never talked to you would know that,” Annie pointed out, approaching the duo. “Congrats, by the way.”

            “Not gonna say anything about the many times I sucked horribly?” Ymir asked, somewhat surprised. “I mean; it was kinda expected. Now that I’m not getting it, I’m feeling oddly disappointed and empty inside.”

            “I always knew you were into the kinky shit. You may have fooled Krista with your innocent, flustered routine, but I know better. Oh, and believe me, it’ll come later. You know, when you least expect it. I’m just being nice and giving you a few minutes before giving you a good drilling.”

            “Oh my, you may have to get in line,” Ymir sighed, motioning towards Sasha. “This one has already called dibs on my super-hot body.”

            “Dude, you wish,” Annie laughed, shaking her head.

            “Hey, you’re the one offering to give me a good drilling.”

            “What’s going on, and why are you not all worshipping me right now?” Mikasa asked, pulling down her scarf as she walked up to them. “You know, for saving Ymir’s ass and getting us into the finals.”

            “Uh, g-good job, I guess,” Annie muttered, unable to look directly at Mikasa. An extremely uncharacteristic flush painted her cheeks pink. “You didn’t suck as badly as I thought you were going to.”

            “Uh, you sick?” Ymir asked, pointing at her own face. “You may have a fever or something. Things are turning a startling shade of pink.”

            “Hmm, I’d call it more of a coral-ish color,” Sasha contemplated, stroking her imaginary beard.

            Mikasa gently rested her palm against Annie’s forehead, frowning at the warmth she found there. Annie’s blush deepened.

            “Wh-what are you doing?” she stammered, stepping back and pushing Mikasa’s hand away.

            “I think her fever’s getting worse,” Sasha smirked. “She’s starting to approach Ymir-level redness.”

            “Am not! I just got really into the game,” Annie huffed. “Don’t compare me to that dork.”

            “Dude, even more red! Didn’t know that was physically possible. I think the lady doth protest too much.”

            “Fuck you guys, I give up,” Annie admitted defeat, turning on her heel and making her way to where Armin and Eren were talking vigorously with each other. Mikasa watching the girl intently as she left.

            “Well, shit,” Ymir grumbled. “I was gonna ask her if she knew where Krista was. Dame’s so tiny, finding her in a horde of gamers is harder than finding another person who ships the same obscure couples I do.”

            “I’m probably gonna regret asking this, but what obscure couples?” Mikasa questioned.

            “I don’t care if you judge me, I think C-3PO and Jabba the Hutt had some real chemistry, there always seemed to be some unspoken sexual tension between the pink power ranger and Rita Repulsa, and I’m fairly certain the reason Hermione was all types of jealous over Ron’s relationship was actually because she wanted to tap all sorts of Lavender Brown ass.”

            “Pippin and Gimli?” Sasha asked.

            “Hmm, has potential.”

            “Yup, instantly regretted asking,” Mikasa sighed, staring at her friends like they were total and complete freaks.

            “Wolverine and Magneto, Naruto and the nine-tailed fox, Link and Ganondorf,” Ymir continued.

            “You ship the hero of time with a pig?”

            “Uh, I think you’re getting Ganon and Ganondorf confused,” Sasha piped up. “Ganondorf is his humanoid form. Ganon’s the pig form.”

            “Whatever, she’s still shipping Link with the dude who has pretty much been attempting to kill him, kidnap Zelda, and rule Hyrule!” Mikasa countered, passionately.

            “Exactly! Everyone knows there’s a very fine line between homicidal feelings and love.”

            “Where the hell did that come from? Sounds crazy unhealthy to me.”

            “What?” Sasha scoffed. “So you’re not into relationships where they start out enemies, but deep internal yearnings turn dislike into lusty I-wanna-get-me-some-of- that feelings?”

            “I never said-”

            “Think about it. College AU story, Link is a hungry student, Ganondorf is a pizza delivery boy.”

            “Sasha, don’t-“

            “-Ganondorf hands him his pizza and-“

            “Sasha,” Mikasa warned.

            “-Asks him if he wants a little extra ham, if you know what I mean.”

            “Damn it, Sasha. Enough of your pervy, smutty fanfiction stories! You haven’t even finished the one-“

            While her friends were distracted by their debate, Ymir decided to make her escape and, instead, search for Krista.

            Finding someone as tiny as Krista was much easier said than done, especially in a crowd of very excited videogame enthusiasts. After a few minutes of avid searching proved unsuccessful, Ymir was about to give up when she noticed a familiar flash of golden hair. Looking forward to humbly boasting, she pushed her way through the mass of people. She had almost made her way out when she noticed a tall brunette talking to Krista.

            While Krista was acting her normally cheery self, even the incredibly oblivious Ymir could tell this other chick was laying on the charm rather thickly. She watched as the intruder laughed at something Krista said, as if it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard, and touched her hand to Krista’s forearm. The subtle contact made Ymir’s stomach drop.

            She wasn’t entirely certain why this was upsetting her so much. Krista was so damn amazing, so Ymir was fairly used to seeing the mass throngs of adoring masses. Perhaps it was a severe lack of sleep or the rut she’d managed to get herself into lately. Then again, it could have been the anger and frustration she felt with herself, and her inability to do what the flirting stranger seemed to be able to do with relative ease.

            Ymir turned her back on the two girls, unable to watch anymore.

* * *

 

            “Dude, I think she’s broken,” Sasha mused, eyeing a particularly dejected looking Ymir as she sat on the Jaegers’ couch, staring into an empty cup.

            “Did you try turning her off and back on again?” Eren asked, smirking. “Usually works for my computer.”

            “Of course I did. Well, I dunno about the turning off bit, but I definitely tried to turn her on.”

            “Okay, it’s starting to get a little creepy,” Annie pointed out, grabbing a handful of chips from the bag on the kitchen table.

            “Maybe if someone refrained from attacking her the moment we got here, there wouldn’t be an issue,” Krista muttered, sending a pointed look in Armin’s direction. He shrugged sheepishly, unable to meet her eyes.

            “I know, and I told her I was sorry. It’s just, well, we almost lost because she’s been distracted like crazy lately,” Armin tried to explain his actions, but was obviously feeling fairly guilty. “I mean; I wasn’t trying to upset her or anything.”

            “Oh, if you’re not trying to upset someone, maybe try not accusing quite so much,” Annie advised. “It tends to, you know, make people feel like shit. Nice going.”

            “But she’d usually just roll her eyes at me and call me a bitch or something.”

            “Yeah, maybe last week, but she’s been acting funny lately,” Sasha mentioned. “I mean; hasn’t she been huffing a lot more than usual lately? The other day I stole some of her lunch, and she didn’t even threaten me.”

            “Very out of character for her,” Eren agreed.

            “Right? It’s no fun when she doesn’t get upset.”

            “So I’m pretty much an ass who kicked her while she was down?” Armin sighed, his shoulders drooping.

            “In short? Yes,” Annie answered.

            “Don’t get us wrong, her playing was definitely subpar today. She’s usually our best player, but today? She made Krista look like an ace.” Eren’s laugh silenced when he noticed the glare death Krista was sending his general direction. “But there’s definitely something going on. I mean, the only thing that usually flusters her this badly is the Goddess over here,” he explained, discreetly pointing at Krista.

            “I’m not sure she’s supposed to know about that,” Sasha muttered.

            “Oh, come on. Everyone knows. Krista would have to be as dense as Ymir to have not noticed that Ymir has had the super hots for her for years now.” He turned to Krista. “Right?”

            Krista was about to retort when Mikasa, who’d been silently watching her depressed best friend the entire time, raised her hand, silencing them all instantly. She then pulled her scarf off, nervously wadding it up into a ball. She stared down at it before letting out a deep, long sigh.

            “There’s only one thing that gets Ymir like this,” she informed them, her eyes still glued to the object in her hands. It took her friends a moment to realize what she was talking about.

            “Oh shit,” Armin murmured, running his fingers anxiously through his hair. “I’m the biggest ass ever.

            “No argument here,” Sasha agreed.

            “What?” Krista asked, her eyes dancing between each of Ymir’s friends. She desperately wanted to help Ymir, but she had no idea how to when she didn’t know what was going on. The group, aside from Annie, looked nervously amongst themselves.

            “It’s her mother,” Mikasa whispered. “The only time I’ve ever seen Ymir like this was because of her mother.”

            Ymir’s sudden mood and the desperate, pleading look she’d given Krista completely made sense now, she realized. Krista thought she’d somehow offended the girl, overstepped, or perhaps assumed to much when Ymir had all but kicked her out that day. She probably should have felt relieved, knowing it wasn’t her fault, but she didn’t. She felt sick. She hadn’t learned much from Gran, but she’d picked up on enough to know that Ymir was probably hurting right now. She’d been hurting for the past week and Krista hadn’t even realized.

            She lifted her eyes to where Ymir was sitting, only to find that the girl was no longer there.

* * *

 

            Ymir sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor, a chest filled with her mother’s belongings open in front of her. She flipped through the old pictures in her hand, smiling darkly when she realized there never existed a photo with the both of them in it.

            The large box was, for the most part, filled with old letters to friends, random school assignments, and a lot of photos. From the stories she’d heard from Gran, anything of value had been sold long ago.

            It was at the very bottom of the trunk that she found something she thought was thrown out ages ago.

            Ymir didn’t really notice when the door creaked open, and barely perceived Krista as she, without saying a word, sat next to her, their knees touching ever so slightly. She didn’t say anything. She just stayed, waiting, and watched as Ymir stared at an old, water damaged child’s drawing.

            Three figures, one barely there, instead smudged in a large blob of fading colors. The other two were alright, a little blotchy here and there, but fine all the same.

            A wave of appreciation and love rushed over Ymir as she stared at the paper, knowing Gran must’ve kept it. She’d been stupid. So stupid.

Here she was, obsessing over a person she’d never had, a person who’d never wanted her, never noticing the person who’d been there the whole time. Gran was her parent, her guardian, her friend, often times her biggest critic, yet also her greatest supporter all wrapped up in a single person.

            Yes, it hurt to know she wasn’t enough to make her mother stay, and she’d always wonder, in her darkest moments, if maybe had she been a better daughter, smarter, prettier, kinder, perhaps she’d have never left.

            But Gran stayed. Gran loved her unconditionally. Gran had always been there.

She’d been there when Ymir was just a crying baby, suffering from colic, and keeping her up at all hours of the night. She’d been there for her first word and first steps. She’d been there for all the school performances, parent-teacher meetings, and failed sports tryout attempts. She’d been there for her first best friend, her first heartbreak, and her first lost tooth. She’d accepted Ymir’s friends as her own, hosted them during their late night videogames sessions, and scolded them all when they got too rowdy.

She couldn’t help but smile as she realized she’d had a mother all along.

With shaking hands, Ymir packed all the belongings back into her mother’s trunk. The other girl watched her the entire time. Ymir stared as Krista took the old drawing gingerly from her hands, studied it for a moment, then carefully placed it on the desk beside her.

When Krista finished, she turned around and tentatively crawled into Ymir’s lap. Arms wrapped themselves around Ymir’s neck as Krista gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. Ymir leaned in, resting her head against Krista’s shoulder, and clung to her, unwilling to let her go.

The last time she’d clung to someone like this had been the day when Sasha and Mikasa comforted her after she broke upon finding out her mother had run off again. She could still remember their words in the back of her mind.

_“She’ll never know the amazing person she missed out on.”_

* * *

 

Ymir had no idea how long she’d been holding onto Krista, but however long it was, the moment had been ruined by her own growling stomach. Embarrassed, Ymir bashfully peeked at Krista, who, when she realized what had happened, attempted to muffle her giggles in Ymir’s solid shoulder.

When her laughter finally eased, Krista proposed that they head down to the kitchen and rummage for some form of munchies.

They sat at the table together, having settled on eating Lucky Charms. Ymir whipped out the bowls and milk, staring pointedly at Krista who’d obviously been planning to pick out all the marshmallows from the box.

Having poured the cereal, Ymir found herself batting at it with her spoon more so than actually eating it, most likely thanks to the pressing questions plaguing her thoughts. Who was that game store chick that had been flirting with Krista? Was Krista interested? Was she someone Krista knew well? Was that kiss that they shared as special to Krista as it had been to her? Did she often find herself zoned out in P.E. class thinking about it, only to be awoken from her revelries after being pegged in the ass with a rubber ball, most likely thrown by Mikasa?

“Oh, I never had a chance to congratulate you,” Krista realized, picking out the pieces of oat from her Lucky Charms and eating them first, the exact opposite from what Ymir was doing.

“I know,” Ymir blurted out, before she realized what she was saying. She stumbled over her words in an ill-fated attempt to rectify the situation, “I mean, I went looking for you after the match. Well, not right after the match, because I was talking with Mikasa, Annie, and Sasha about Sasha’s mad desires for my body, and Ganondorf doinking Link, but after that I did, but, uh, you were kinda already busy.”

“Oh, okay.” Krista shrugged, as if she had absolutely no idea that the interaction between her and the other dame had Ymir internally screaming, despite the blank expression on her face. “You know you still could’ve come over. Probably would have saved me from a kinda awkward situation.”

“Er, awkward situation? You don’t say.” Ymir feigned a lack of interest, not wanting to appear overzealous for answers, when she, in fact, was practically dying inside.

“Yeah, ran into an ex. You know how it is.” Krista was very focused on her quest to eat every last oat kernel in her bowl before moving on to the marshmallows. Ymir, on the other hand, was clinging to her every word.

“Uh, yeah… sure, I guess.” An ex? As in she had multiple? It didn’t surprise Ymir, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Also, no, she didn’t know what it was like to randomly run into an ex while attending a videogame preliminary round. In fact, she didn’t know what it was like to run into an ex in general. Hell, she had no idea was it was like just to have a girlfriend. She’d only just had her first kiss last week, for Goddess sake. It had been special to her. Like, cue heavenly music, snowing on Christmas day special, but had it meant as much to Krista? She wanted to say yes, but her total lack of faith in herself wouldn’t let her.

Though she’d never admit it to pretty much anyone, Ymir was a romantic at heart. She’d grown up on stories of finding her one true love, that single destined person, and while she definitely was a realist, a little part of her still clung to that fairytale dream. While she could easily find the statistics and likelihood of a first relationship being successful, she really didn’t care about the numbers, because if, and it was a seriously fucking huge if, Krista, for some miraculously awesome reason, became her girlfriend, she’d want that relationship to last forever.

The only problem was having the guts to get to that point. That was Ymir’s struggle. She was constantly fighting a battle against her low self-esteem, and every negative fiber of her being was telling her she wasn’t good enough. Not for Krista, and, maybe, not for anyone.

But then maybe, just maybe, she was.

“Hey, Krista?” Ymir found herself seeking the other girl’s attention without even realizing she was doing it.

“Hmm?” Krista hummed, her mouth full.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Ymir blurted out the words before she’d have a chance to take them back.

Krista froze, her spoon inches away from her mouth. “Huh?”

“Er, I just mean,” she stammered, trying to find the right words. “Do you- do you think there’s someone for everyone? Like, for someone like me, you know?”

“Well,” Krista cleared her throat, her cheeks dusted with a pinkish tinge, “er, you know what they say. There are plenty of fish in the sea and all that.”

“Ugh, I can’t stand fish. Can I just stay on the beach instead?”

“Ymir, there are no fish on the beach. You’d just be sitting there, watching other people catch fish, getting sand stuck in weird places,” Krista mused. She stared down at her bowl, appearing deep in thought, and Ymir couldn’t help but think that there was something she wanted to say.

“Fish taste funny and smell like ass,” Ymir pointed out.

“Fine, be difficult. How about this? Ymir, there are plenty of stars in the sky-”

“Wait, do I need some kinda special astronaut training for that?”

“What?” Krista’s brow furrowed as she shot a ‘what-the-hell-are-you-on’ look at Ymir. “No, it was just a metaphor.”

“Bad metaphor.” Ymir shook her head, taking a big bite of her food. Krista’s eyes followed the spoon.

“How about marshmallows in a box of cereal?”

Ymir finished chewing, then swallowed. “One question first. Does that make me one of the weird oat things?” She used her spoon to point at the cereal floating in her bowl.

“Yes,” Krista replied, flatly and a little too quickly. Ymir glared at her and crossed her arms across her chest, pouting.

“But I don’t wanna be a stupid oat thing.”

“Well maybe you should have thought about that before being so damn difficult.” Krista smiled playfully at Ymir, and Ymir suddenly found it very difficult to sit across from her. She was just too damn gorgeous, and the fact that she just smiled for Ymir? Her heart felt like it was about to explode out of sheer adoration.

That terrified her.

If she told Krista just how much she thought about her, how she often fell asleep at night thinking about her, would it freak her out? She’d never felt so strongly about another person before, and the thought that she ever could again for someone else seemed laughable to her. There was some sort of intangible thread between them that kept pulling Ymir closer, and she knew, struggle as she might, she could never break free of it.

“What if- what if there’s only one marshmallow?”

“One… what do you mean?”

“What if there’s only one marshmallow in my box and I fuck it up?”

“I’ve never heard of a box with only one marshmallow in it,” Krista laughed, shaking her head, obviously not quite getting the deeper meaning of Ymir’s question, and for some reason she couldn’t quite understand, it made Ymir anxious.

“But what if mine only has one with just a bunch of those nasty marshmallow crumbs at the bottom?” Ymir was staring unflinchingly and directly into Krista’s eyes for what probably was the first time, searching for the answer she needed.

“Well then you got seriously screwed. Also, marshmallow crumbs aren’t so bad. In fact, they’re super tasty. Just ask Sasha. She’d agree with me.”

“But I don’t want crumbs,” Ymir’s voice was shaking. She thought of past crushes, girls she’d once thought maybe, just maybe they’d feel the same. They never did., and it fucking wrecked her. If the same thing happened with Krista, she wasn’t sure how she’d manage to handle it. “I’ve had crumbs before, and I want more. I want that whole damn marshmallow.”

“Well,” Krista met Ymir’s stare and smiled softly, “doesn’t that just make your single marshmallow all the more special?”

“Well yeah,” Ymir agreed, nodding, “but what if my marshmallow only sees me as an oat?”

“Well then your marshmallow is a dumbass.”

Ymir frowned. “But you called me an oat thing earlier.”

“Because you insulted my metaphors! Look, you’re not an oat thing, I promise. You’re a marshmallow. A delicious, not crumby at all, marshmallow.”

Ymir nodded, but was still not convinced. Her thoughts flitted back to the girl at the store, and the many admirers Krista had. “But what if their box has a bunch of marshmallows and I’m just one of the many?”

            Krista took a moment to really consider what Ymir was saying. She looked down at her bowl of cereal. Only marshmallows were left.

            “Well, sure, there may be many, but sometimes one marshmallow in particular is the only one that really matters.”

            Ymir’s breath caught in her throat. The way Krista was staring at her, Ymir instantly knew that the girl had managed to figure out what this whole conversation was really about. It was as if she was daring Ymir to say the words left unsaid between them.

            Ymir took a deep, calming breath, attempting to quell the nerves that threatened to take over her body. Her hands clenched into tight fists, her short nails digging into the skin of her palm. She looked down at her bowl and its contents- what seemed like dozens of oat pieces, and a single, lone marshmallow.

            “Krista, I know I’ve been somewhat aloof and a bit of an ass this past week. And, well, that call I got last week… it was from my mother. I was having some serious issues with that, and that was kinda making my brain a crazy place, but there was something else I was thinking about, too.” Ymir looked up, catching Krista’s stare and holding it. “Krista, what were you going to say before I got that phone call?”

            Before Krista had the chance to answer, a loud thud warned them that someone had just entered the house. Ymir let out the breath she’d been holding in, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly as she watched Sasha appear in the door way.

            Sasha’s eyes immediately fell to the bowls on the table. She frowned when she saw the contents of Ymir’s, then leapt for Krista’s. She snatched the bowl away, stealing as many marshmallows as she could before Krista could protest.

            “Sasha!” Ymir yelled, snapping the girl out of her weird antics. Sasha sheepishly smiled at Krista, setting the bowl down in front of her.

            “Er, sorry about that. I was super hungry and I have a bit of a sweet tooth, if you haven’t noticed, and…” Sasha continued to ramble out her apology, but Ymir wasn’t really listening to it.

            She’d finally asked Krista. She’d finally made a move, even if just a small one, but yet again they were interrupted.

            “It’s okay, Sasha,” Krista replied, accepting the apology. “After all,” blue eyes found gold, her stare unwavering, making sure Ymir took in every word, “I just want this one.”

            Ymir gulped.

 

 


	13. Samus Aran

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been reading this story. You're kinda, sorta amazing.
> 
> So, I know that the last chapter had its dark bits, so I decided to lighten things up a bit for you… Or, that was a lie and I’m totally just lulling you into a false sense of security before pouncing, attacking you in the feels. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past me. I’m a bit of an ass like that. You thought this was a fluff piece? Hah, fooled you. I'mma go all Game of Thrones on this piece.
> 
> ...
> 
> Any who, I hope you all enjoy the chapter. There should only be a few left before the conclusion. That’s a crazy thought… it simultaneously feels like I’ve been writing this story for a super long time, and like I only just started it a couple weeks ago all at once.
> 
> That’s straight-up weird.
> 
> Oh, right. One last thing. The pervy song used in this chapter is MTC by S3RL. Once again, you guys can thank CanaanAlphardForever for bringing it to my attention… also for getting it stuck in my head. Word of caution, do not start singing absentmindedly about masturbating to cartoons in front of Le Girlfriend… especially when you then have to explain what hentai is.
> 
> …I’ll end this on that lovely thought. Peace out.

**Chapter 13: Samus Aran**

            It wasn’t until she was alone with Mikasa that Ymir realized just how long it had been since she made time to hang out with her friend without the rest of the group around. Guilt washed over her as she set a can of soda down in front of her guest and grabbed her guitar controller, slipping it on and adjusting the strap so her boobs weren’t getting squished against the plastic instrument. She’d been so distracted by the super-hot temptress that was Krista that she’d completely neglected her duties as Mikasa’s friend. That was seriously fucked up. Mikasa had always been there through everything, confidently mumbling supportive sounding mutterings through her scarf throughout the years.

                Ymir had never known exactly what Mikasa was saying. It took her awhile to learn to interpret Mikasa’s scarf talk, but it had always sounded assertive and helpful. Well, as helpful as incoherent sputterings could be.

                It was because Mikasa had always been there that Ymir decided to invite her friend over a couple hours early, before everyone else arrived. She could tell something was bothering Mikasa, and Ymir would be damned if she didn’t do something to help.

            “I trust you didn’t do anything sketchy while I was away.” Ymir’s finger hovered over the pause button, waiting for Mikasa’s reply before returning to their game.

            “Have you seen your score? I don’t need to cheat to decimate you,” Mikasa countered, her eyes glued to the TV as she waited for the game to start back up.

                “Screw you, Ackerman,” Ymir retorted as she hit the start button. She was immediately hit by a massive influx of colorful notes, internally cheering when she easily breezed through them, surprising herself.

                “Don’t look so smug.”

                Ymir’s eyes flicked to the score. Sure enough, Mikasa was thoroughly kicking her ass in a Magneto versus Wolverine kinda way, and it was all because Ymir missed one stupid note earlier. Her multiplier had caught up to Mikasa’s, but since her friend hadn’t missed anything so far, there would be no way for Ymir to beat her. Well, almost no way to defeat her.

                She needed a distraction.

                “So, how has working on that art project with Annie been going?” Ymir asked, hoping Mikasa’s seeming dislike for the girl would play to her advantage. It did.

                A screech sound emitted from Mikasa’s side and Ymir could’ve sworn she heard a muffled ‘fuck’ as her friend scrambled to right her finger position. Due to the missing the note, Mikasa’s multiplier reset to the lowest number. Mikasa glared at Ymir, who was snickering.

                “Oh, so that’s how we’re playing it now?” Mikasa asked, Ymir simply shrugged, knowing that would probably irritate her friend more than anything she could say.

                “Wouldn’t dream of it. I was simply asking after your education. No hinky business at all. What kind of girl do you take me for?”

                “Bullshit.”

                “Damn straight. I aim to win this round.” Ymir was on cloud nine as she continued to kick Mikasa’s ass. As long as she payed attention and didn’t miss anything, she’d have this round in the bag.

                “Nice fingering you got there,” Mikasa noticed. Ymir frowned, determined to not let whatever her friend was about to say get to her. “Krista teach you that?”

                The sound went completely silent on Ymir’s half of the song as she lost all ability to play. She stared at Mikasa, her eyes wide with horror and her mouth gaping.

                “Mikasa!”

                “Wow, don’t go shouting my name like you do Krista’s. I mean, just because she’s not here right now doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you get all fresh with my tidbits. At least take me out to dinner first. Chivalry is fucking dead, I swear.”

                “Hey, don’t get all pervy with me just because Annie hasn’t let you get all types of handsy with her lady parts,” Ymir replied. Mikasa, unable to play just as Ymir was, turned as red as the scarf around her neck, emitting some sort of bizarre strangled sound. Other than that, she showed no signs of being bothered by what was said. Mikasa was queen of the poker face.

                “How’d you find out about that?” Mikasa demanded an answer, her brow furrowed as she searched Ymir’s face. “You’re usually so damn oblivious.”

                “Wait, what?

                “What?”

                They stared blankly at each other as the virtual crowd booed at them. Neither girl could care less.

                “Wait, so you and Annie?” Ymir asked, trying to figure out when that happened and how. “But I thought you two pretty much loathed each other… or at least that you love irritating the crap out of one another.”

                “There’s nothing going on between us,” Mikasa blurted out too fast.

                “My Spidey-senses tell me you’re lying.” Ymir frowned

                “There really isn’t.” Mikasa gaze lingered straight ahead at the TV screen as she pulled on her scarf, loosening it. “But maybe, and this is a huge, massive maybe, I… er, I kinda want there to be.”

                “Wait, holy crap. Mikasa, empress of not giving a fuck, has the lady urges for her nemesis? Does she know?” Ymir asked, still completely thrown by this revelation. This was too fucking good.

                Mikasa glared at the notes she was missing, her face scrunched up in frustration, as she was still unable to play. “I… I may have done something really stupid.”

                “Hey, that’s my thing.”

                “I told her I have librarian fantasies about her,” Mikasa stated, her voice remaining steady, not letting slip the slightest hint of just how worried she truly was. She was insanely skilled at the art of lying and was usually Ymir’s go to person when she got in trouble and needed someone to help her talk her way out of it.

                “Wait, what?”

                “I know. I’m so screwed.”

                “I’d say,” Ymir agreed. “Everyone knows teacher fantasies are way hotter.”

                “S’cuse me?”

                “Don’t believe me? Imagine Annie sitting behind a desk, asking you questions about the female anatomy in front of all the other students. It’s a taboo love affair, but you can’t help but feel this bizarre pull towards Ms. Leonhart. It’s so wrong, but so damn right all at the same time.”

                “Ymir,” Mikasa warned.

                “Oh my, perhaps she’ll want to see you after class,” Ymir went back to the game, her fingers flying over the buttons.

                “Shut up.”

                “To correct your homework,” Ymir continued.

                “Damn it, I’m serious here.”

                “Perhaps she’ll give you an up close and personal lesson on the female form.”

                “I don’t care what issues you’re dealing with right now; I’m so frickin’ close to kicking your ass.”

                “Aww, is that why you agreed to come over?” Ymir asked, batting her eyelashes. “Did you miss me? Are you gonna mother duck me and figure out all my issues?”

                “Kinky nurse.”

                “Excuse me?” Ymir stared at her friend, completely confused.

                “You had to have your appendix removed, but that’s okay, because nurse Krista was there to take care of you.”

                “I’m not weak enough to fall for that,” Ymir lied, trying to fight back the blush that threatened to take over.

                “And she’d be all like, ‘Ms. Ymir? Do you need your sponge bath now?”’

                “Screw you,” Ymir muttered as she fumbled the notes.

                “Serves you right.”

                They continued to play, both missing the occasional note. No matter how hard she tried to focus, Ymir just couldn’t get what Mikasa said out of her head. When the round finally came to an end with Ymir the victor, but just barely, she refrained from picking a new song, and instead stared ahead at the TV screen. Mikasa, eyed her friend, then the song selections in front of them, then back to her friend.

                “You gonna pick a song or something?” Mikasa asked, but Ymir didn’t move. There was a long pause before she spoke.

                “So, you really like Annie then?” Her voice came out softly, almost timidly. It was very seldom that she and Mikasa had heart to heart conversations like this. They usually just teased one another, keeping things funny and as far away from a serious talk as possible, but right now her friend was confused and needed to talk stuff out, and her only other options were Eren, Sasha, and Armin, none of whom could exactly be considered a romance expert. In fact, the closest Sasha had come to having a significant other would be her daily make out session with her morning donut.

                “It appears so.” Mikasa sighed, slipped the guitar off, and setting it down before sitting on Ymir’s bed. “I’m seriously screwed, aren’t I?”

                Ymir sat beside her friend. Unable to look Mikasa in the eye due to the sheer embarrassment she felt due to the situation, she stared down at the floor, studying a little yellow Lego that had been abandoned there.

                “You know, I actually consider Annie a pretty cool chick.”

                “Yeah?”

                “Yup, a little cut-throat and slightly stubborn, though.”

                “Slightly stubborn?”

                “Okay, really fucking stubborn, but you know what I mean. The point is she’s besties with Krista, can actually be kinda fun sometimes, and plays A.O.T. I’m no expert, but that combination in a human generally makes them pretty damn awesome.”

                “You know that party we went to?”

                “Considering we’re never invited to parties and there has only really been the one, I’m gonna go with yes.”

                “I told her then,” Mikasa informed her.

                “Oh, so it’s been awhile.”

                “She hasn’t brought it up since.”

            Ymir took a subtle glance at her friend. Mikasa was biting her bottom lip, fingers fumbling with the end of her scarf. She looked nervous and uncomfortable talking about something so personal.

            “Well you two aren’t exactly the most talkative of people, you know.”

            Mikasa didn’t reply, instead choosing to shrug.

            “See? I’m kinda surprised you confessed in the first place. I mean, you can barely even have this conversation with me.”

            “She was sad,” Mikasa pointed out. Ymir’s brow furrowed.

            “So you thought that was a good time to be all types of pervy and tell her about your kinky library thoughts?”

            “That’s not how it went,” Mikasa sighed, obviously frustrated. “She was sad, and I can’t stand it when she’s sad, and I just wanted to make her feel better and I didn’t know how. We started talking and I was insulting her like usual-”

            “Yeah, that’s kinda your go to,” Ymir interrupted.

            “Right, but then it just kinda came out and there really wasn’t any taking it back. I was totally fine with it, but now it’s been weeks and she hasn’t said a damn thing and I’m wondering if I really shouldn’t have said anything to begin with, you know? I feel like I’ve made a complete idiot of myself.”

            “So you regret it then?” Ymir asked, and was startled when Mikasa raised her head, meeting her stare, a certain ferocity in her eyes.

            “No.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but firm. “It’s just… if a little unrequited crush hurts this badly, what would real love feel like? Maybe it was for the best-”

            “That’s bullshit,” Ymir interrupted. Mikasa watched her, and Ymir knew her friend was waiting for an explanation to her outburst. “Look, we’re friends. It’s my job to say the things you don’t want to hear, and I don’t want to say. That whole ‘I’m not gonna try because I might get hurt’ crap is so incredibly cliché and just horrible. Like, pretty much as lame as lame gets. A lot of the best things in life run the risk of hurting you, you know?”

            “That sounded so cheesy,” Mikasa smirked, and despite her friend totally ruining her attempt at sounding wise in some way, she didn’t mind. Ymir was just relieved to see Mikasa smile, but that relief quickly turned to surprise and slight fear when her best friend rested her head on her shoulder. “Anyways, I’m totally winning.”

            “Winning?” Ymir asked, bewildered.

            “I managed to confess my feelings to Annie. Have you, at any point, actually told Krista that you like her?”

            “That’s so totally beside the point.”

            “So, I’m taking that as a no.”

            “I thought we were talking about your issues with Annie, not my problems,” Ymir grumbled, playfully nudging her friend, receiving an annoyed grumble in response.

            “Oh please, you don’t have any problems when it comes to Krista. It’s painfully obvious how into each other you two are. You’re just like, stuck in this infinite will they, won’t they cycle. It’s crazy frustrating and if this was a TV show, I’d be fucking screaming at the screen, calling the main characters idiots,” Mikasa admitted. “I’m fairly certain if you told Krista you were into her, she’d pounce your bones faster than Sasha on a pizza.”

            “Er, really?” Ymir asked, her signature blush tinting her cheeks pink.

            “Yeah, if she hasn’t figured your complacency on the matter to be total disinterest.”

            “Wait, what?” Ymir’s hand whipped out and grabbed her friend’s. Her grip was tight, but Mikasa didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest.

            “Have you even really seen the way she looks at you?” Mikasa asked. “Or are you too focused on not coming off as a complete and utter putz whenever she’s around you?”

            “Er, I’m gonna go with that second option,” Ymir muttered, lamely. “I just don’t understand. Why would she be interested in someone like me? Is she gonna lose interest the moment I say something?”

            “Oh Goddess, this really is like Eren’s soap operas.”

            “Eren watches soap operas?”

            “Him and Armin binge on ‘em, but you didn’t hear that from me,” Mikasa urged. “It’s just… how many times are you gonna make the same damn excuse over and over? You’re into her, and she’s into you. Do you realize how damn lucky you are? Stop over thinking every little thing and just tell her you have the intense pining in your pants for her already.”

            “Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, Annie’s in exactly my position and is just overthinking things as well?” Ymir asked, trying to steer the discussion back to Mikasa’s problem.

            “Sometimes. Well, at least I hope that’s what’s going on, but most likely not.”

            The mood in the room went from playful teasing to a bit more depressing. Mikasa was staring at her jeans, most likely deep in thought. Ymir leaned her head against her friend’s, Mikasa’s soft hair tickled against her cheek. The movement was enough to startle her out of her imaginings.

            “So librarian fantasies, eh? You know, I can kinda see it. Never knew you were all types of freaky like that, though.”

            “Hey, you have your own Goddess to fantasize about. Don’t go stealing mine, too.”

            “Oh, so Annie’s your goddess now? Kinky shit, Mikasa. Kinky shit.” Ymir shook her head in mock disappointment. “I thought I raised you better.”

            “Like you don’t do it,” Mikasa pointed out.

            “You kidding? Krista kissed me and I nearly stopped breathing,” Ymir laughed, but immediately stopped when she realized she’d never quite given Mikasa that information before.

            “Wait, what?” Mikasa sat up and turned to face Ymir. “Krista kissed you? And you didn’t instantly keel over in a pathetic lump?” Mikasa’s eyes were wide, her lips pulled into a wide smile. Ymir nodded, very proud of herself. “When the hell did that happen?”

            “Er, like a week ago?” Ymir recollected.

            “And you waited until now to tell me?”

            **_Shit._**

            “Uhm, would you believe I was waiting for dramatic effect?”

            “How the hell did you manage that?” Mikasa asked, a look of utter disbelief on her face.

            “You needn’t sound so surprised. Obviously I’m the love master,” Ymir offered, gesturing up and down her body. “I mean, right?”

            “If you’re the love master, we’re all screwed,” Mikasa sighed, shaking her head.

            “Don’t you mean if I’m the master of love, none of us are getting screwed?”

            “You have a point there.”

* * *

 

            “Krista kissed me. Like, full on, on the lips, kissed me. Princess Leah laying a smacker on Han Solo’s mouth moments before he’s encased in carbonite kinda kissed me. Spiderman hanging upside down, in the rain, getting the sweet lip locking from Mary Jane… which, by the way, I still have no idea how he didn’t manage to get all types of water up his nose. I mean, it looked totally sexy in the films, but if it was me filming that scene? I would have ended up snorking right in that red-headed damsel’s face,” Ymir confessed to the rest of the nerds. Save for Mikasa, they all just stared at her, unconvinced.

            “Why’re you telling us about your weird, kinky, Krista related delusions?” Eren asked

            “It wasn’t a dream. It really happened!” Ymir spat back.

            “Sure it did, Ymir, sure,” Sasha patted her shoulder. “Also Batman and the Joker are actually besties, Princess Peach isn’t the most annoying damsel in distress ever, and I don’t have an unhealthy relationship with food.”

            “Come on, guys. I’m serious! It happened. It really, really happened.”

            “If it really happened, you’d still be passed out in a pathetic state of brain-dead love sickness,” Eren countered.

            “Why don’t we just ask Krista when she gets here?” Armin questioned, as if the simple action wouldn’t decimate Ymir’s last shred of dignity. “They should be here any time now.”

            “Hell no,” Ymir blurted out, firmly.

            “Why not?” Eren smirked. “Is it because your little claim was all a lie and you don’t want Krista setting the record straight?”

            “I said no,” Ymir reiterated. “I’d rather you not bombard her with questions, because if you do start interrogating her, she’ll realize I was talking to you guys about it, and if she figures out I was talking to you guys about it, she’ll realize I was attempting to brag about kissing her, and if she realizes I was bragging about kissing her, she’ll end up teasing me like crazy or become totally disillusioned, and I’ll end up even more humiliated, and I just can’t deal with more of that right now. Do you have any idea how damn embarrassing that’d be for me? It’d be as embarrassing as… embarrassing as…” she struggled for something to compare it to.

            “As embarrassing as hopping onto the courtesy desk at your local game shop, dancing, singing, and shaking your ass while pelvic thrusting unknowingly in front of your crush and her best friend?” Armin offered.

            “Then running into a door after,” Eren added.

            “Yes,” Ymir sighed. “That embarrassing.”

            “Oh, as embarrassing as that time when Krista waved at you and you were so zoned out by it that you ended up walking into a telephone poll?” Sasha joined in.

            “As embarrassing as that time you fell asleep in art class and started moaning Krista’s name?” Mikasa asked. “In front of her, I might add.”

            “I did what?” All the color drained from Ymir’s face as she stared at her friend in horror. “I didn’t… I wouldn’t!”

            “True.” Mikasa smiled. “I just wanted to see how you’d react.

            Ymir was about to call Mikasa some fairly colorful names when a knock disrupted her. She practically hopped up from her spot on the living room couch before making her way to the front door.

            Annie and Krista stood there, the first looking bored and disinterested in the situation she currently found herself in, as per usual, while the other was smiling so brightly at Ymir, that Ymir wouldn’t have been surprised if she simply evaporated in the light of her gloriousness. She swore Krista’s aura could have been used as a weapon, instantly rendering all in the area completely and utterly useless.

            Apparently Ymir stood there, completely immobile with her mouth agape, for a second too long because, with a loud sigh, Annie rolled her eyes and pushed past her, muttering for her to “keep it in her pants.”

            Krista, on the other hand, waited expectantly to be invited in.

            “Uh, hey there,” Ymir mumbled, pretending to be deeply interested in the sleeve of her sweater so she wouldn’t have to look Krista in the eye. She knew, after their last interrupted conversation, that if she looked at Krista for too long, or stared too long into the girl’s bright, blue eyes, she’d end up blushing like crazy, yet again, and she really, really didn’t want to end up doing that. If there was a quota for such a thing, she must have surpassed it long ago.

            Krista followed behind Ymir as they walked into the living room, and Ymir tried to ignore the knowing smirk Mikasa was sending her way as best she could. She mouthed at her friend to ‘quit it, you gigantic ass,’ but Mikasa just wiggled her eyebrows back at her, her grin growing more and more devious.

            Ymir did her best to tune out her friends’ snickering, knowing they still didn’t believe her about Krista kissing her. She sat down on the floor, leaving the spot behind her open for Krista, and rested her back against the couch. She grabbed her controller, ready and more than willing to start kicking her friends’ virtual asses.

                What she wasn’t counting on, was for Krista to plop down between her legs before snuggling back into her. Krista’s back pressed to Ymir’s front as she leaned back against her. Ymir cursed softly into blonde hair as her chest tightened. It suddenly felt very hot and Ymir could hear her heart thumping like crazy, knowing Krista must have felt it as well. If she did, she didn’t make any indication towards it.

                “Well, fucking fuck,” Eren gasped, staring at them. “Shit, so you weren’t lying then?”

                “Shut up, Eren,” Ymir growled, not sure she could handle any more embarrassment in her current situation. It was all for not; however, when Krista turned around, arching a quizzical eyebrow.

                “Weren’t lying about what?” Krista asked.

                 Sirens wailed in Ymir’s head as she realized just how close Krista’s face was to her own, and she soon found herself lost in admiration, only now noticing all the different shades of blue that could be found in Krista’s eyes.

                “Holy shit.” The words came out so softly, Ymir was almost convinced she’d never said them.

                “Ymir?” Krista asked, her eyes narrowing.

                “E-Eren’s deluded,” Ymir sputtered. “Please don’t mind him.”

                “Did you really?” Sasha asked, oblivious to Ymir’s pain, as she edged in closer to the two girls.

                “Uh, really what?” Krista asked. Silently behind her, Ymir did her best to shake her head, gesture for her to stop, and mouth threats at Sasha in a futile attempt to get her to shut the hell up.

                It didn’t work.

                “You un-virginized her sweet lady lips, didn’t you?” Sasha declared, eliciting a groan of despair from Ymir.

                 “Aww, my baby’s all grown up and Frenching people!”

                Ymir’s first instinct was to hide, but with Krista sitting on her lap, there was absolutely nowhere for her to go. Even if she really wanted to, she would have to shove Krista off her first, but that would only add to her problems.

                “Sasha!” The devilish curve of Mikasa’s lips told Ymir things were about to get even worse. “You can’t go around making blatant remarks about Ymir’s sudden lack of virginity.”

                If Ymir blushed any harder, the blush would have become a permanent feature. She wanted the earth to open up, swallow her, and put her out of her damn misery already.

                “We didn’t have s-s-sex!” Ymir stated, her voice sounded more like a high-pitched squeak. “It was just a kiss, I swear.”

                “Just a kiss?” Krista asked, emphasizing the first word. “And here I thought it was such a special moment.”

                “Not like that! I just mean we didn’t do anything beyond that.”

                “Beyond that? And what would that have been, exactly?” Krista flashed her a mock-innocent smile. Ymir, completely lost on what she should do, looked from friend to friend until her eyes fell on Armin. “Help?” she asked, pathetically. He just shrugged uselessly, knowing there was absolutely no way to stop the horde.

                “Hot damn, this means four of us get to split all the money,” Sasha mused. “Next stop, candy store!”

                Everyone, save for Krista and Ymir, glared at Sasha, as if she betrayed them. Ymir’s eyes narrowed as she glared at her friend. It took Sasha a minute to realize her error.

                “Split what money?” Ymir asked, taking note of her friends’ guilty expressions. Aside from Mikasa, the nerds, Annie included, refused to look at her.”

                “Er, the thing is-“ Armin started. He looked around at his friends, hoping someone would help him break the news.

                “-We kinda did something. Something you may not like,” Eren added.

                “And what exactly would that be?” Ymir asked through clenched teeth. She was not fucking amused. Not amused at all.

                “I’d like to point out that I totally bet in your favor,” Sasha mentioned.

                “Only because I made you change your answer,” Mikasa piped up.

                “Shut up!” Sasha urged.

                “Bet,” Ymir muttered, the word falling from her lips. “You fucking placed bets on me?”

                “Yes,” Eren declared, matter of factly. “And Krista as well.”

                “It kinda involved the both of you,” Armin croaked.

                “And what would this bet happen to be?” Ymir asked, not sure she wanted to hear their answer. She avoided Krista’s stare, unable to face her at the moment.

                “Whether or not you two would lay the lovely lady loving on each other,” Sasha blurted out.

                Ymir saw red. Crimson red. Blood red. The blood of her friends’ red.

                “You did what?” She asked, her body involuntarily shaking.

                “Eren and Armin voted that you wouldn’t be able to do it, but I believed in you!”

                “Traitor!” The two boys cried out in unison, astonished that their friend threw them both under the bus in a futile attempt to save herself.

                “Who else?” The aura coming off Ymir was enough to make everyone in the room shiver.

                “Uh, whatever could you mean by that?” Armin asked, playing stupid.

                “Who else was in on your bet?”

                “Uhm, about that,” Sasha began.

                “How many?”

                “Kinda sorta-” Armin mumbled.

                “Everyone in school,” Eren finished the thought.

                For a brief moment, complete silence filled the room.

                “Krista?” Ymir asked, her voice too-sweet.

                “Uh, yeah?”

                “Mind getting off me for a sec so I can kill my ex-friends?”

                Before Krista could reply, Gran wandered into the room, a massive smile plastered to her face.

                “Where’s my money?” Ymir’s grandmother questioned, and Ymir’s mouth fell open.

                “You too?’ Ymir stared incredulously as Gran nodded. “My own fucking flesh and blood,” she muttered under her breath, shaking her head.

                “You’ll get it once we split it four ways,” Mikasa informed her, her attitude pure business-like.

                “Four ways? Wait, only four people out of the entire fucking school actually voted that I’d be able to… able to-” Ymir looked nervously to the floor, unable to finish her thought.

                Krista, who was obviously incredibly amused by the entire situation, laughed. “Able to seduce the school Goddess?” she finished.

                “What about the other one?” Gran asked, an impish glint in her eyes.

                “Other one?” Ymir asked, not sure she’d be able to stand even more humiliation.

                “Yeah, the one about Mikasa and the bored, blonde girl,” Gran explained, pointing between the two quiet girls.

                Mikasa’s face turned beet red, Annie spat her soda all over her phone screen, and Ymir hollered and whooped so wildly, she wasn’t able to stop for at least five minutes.

* * *

 

                It was now or never.

                Krista took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced herself to say it.

                “Uh, Ymir? Do you think I could, er, if it’s okay, could I maybe stay for a little bit?” she asked, her voice shaking. “There’s something I kinda wanted to talk to you about.”

                This game of cat and mouse had lasted long enough, and, despite the humiliation, the constant interruptions, the possible negative results, and the occasional misunderstanding, Krista was determined to see it through.

                Ymir stared down at her through thick, dark lashes, her eyes wide with surprise.

                Slowly, after a long pause, she nodded her head, a small, shy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Sure.”

* * *

 

                Annie was completely silent as she walked beside Mikasa. Mikasa herself wasn’t much for conversation either, despite having offered to walk Annie home earlier when Krista told her she’d be staying over at Ymir’s a little while longer.

                Not a single word had fallen from Annie’s lips, yet her brain was a cacophony of screaming, questions, and the occasional internal declaration of ‘say something, you massive idiot.’

                For weeks now she’d been intending to talk to Mikasa, but every time she thought about the girl her feelings became a jumbled mess of half-finished thoughts which she tossed aside when they became too embarrassing. On top of that, she was still baffled by her sudden realization that she was no longer interested in Hitch in the least, which completely threw her. She’d spent so long dealing with her unrequited feelings, it was completely foreign to her to no longer feel them.

                Just a couple months ago, she was honestly and utterly convinced that she wanted to hold onto the pain of loving that jerk forever. Mikasa; however, somehow managed to slip her way into Annie’s heart, what with her sudden declarations, bizarre fantasy confessions, and stoic, unchanging expression.

                She made her way up the walkway to her house, stealing glances at her ever-silent companion. When they reached the door, Mikasa stood awkwardly and watched her expectantly, not turning to leave. Meanwhile, Annie was silently screaming at herself to say something, anything while she still had the time to say it.

                “Uh, well thanks, I guess,” Annie muttered, reaching for the door, admitting defeat for now.

                “Annie?” Mikasa was staring at her, a look of fiery determination dancing in her eyes. It made Annie’s mouth go dry, and when she looked down and saw Mikasa’s fingertips brush down her wrist before taking her hand, she let out a long, steady breath. She’d been barely aware she’d been holding it in the entire time.

                “What?” Annie asked, cursing herself for the blunt way the word came out. Mikasa hooked her finger in her scarf before pulling it down and away from her mouth.

                “I need you to just say it. I need you to get it over with.” Mikasa’s words were earnest, and Annie could tell by the look in the girl’s cool, grey eyes that she was bracing herself for bad news.

                “Say what?” Annie kept her responses short. She was fully aware of what Mikasa meant, but a lack of knowing what to say and sheer resolve to not allow herself to get hurt again, left her playing dumb. She fell back on her main defense: acting like she didn’t give a damn.

                She should’ve known it wouldn’t work.

                “If I don’t have a chance, please just tell me,” Mikasa uttered through a clenched jaw. “Say it bluntly. Tell me in a way that there’s no way I can misunderstand. Just let me know so I can lay these damn feelings to rest, because these things you’ve left unsaid are fucking crushing me.” Mikasa broke the eye contact, choosing instead to stare at their clasped hands. “I’m aware that we barely know each other… hell, I don’t really know the first thing about you, but there are things I do see,” she steadied her thoughts. “Like that you chew on the end of your pen when you’re trying to figure out a difficult math problem, and that you get a really dirty mouth when playing video games. You always eat the green gummy bears first, and you’re even more competitive than I am, and that’s saying a whole frickin’ lot. I just… I know I don’t usually talk much at all-”

                “That’s an understatement.” The words slipped out before Annie could stop them. Why did she always have to sound like such a snarky bitch? She never used to be like this.

                Mikasa looked back up, her eyes seeming to search Annie’s face for any hint as to what she was thinking “-but, you know, I’m always thinking about you and-”

                She didn’t let Mikasa finish. Without fully realizing what she was doing, her hand reached out, gripping the red scarf wrapped around Mikasa’s neck and, with one firm, strong tug, pulled her down, so they were eye level with one another.

                Annie’s lips pressed against Mikasa’s, and she was pleasantly surprised by just how soft they were. Her brain barely picked up on the timid touch that snaked up her arm and over her shoulder, before resting at the back of her neck, gently pulling her in closer. She left a second quick kiss against Mikasa’s lips before pulling back, her breath heavy as she tried to quiet her raging heart.

               “My favorite color is white, I hate public speaking, and I love the rain,” Annie stated breathlessly, unable to tear her attention away from Mikasa’s comically shocked expression.

               “A-Annie?”

              “My favorite month is December, I think heels are horrible, torturous devices, and that toast just tastes a little bit better when it’s burnt.” She bit her lip. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you ever since that night at Hitch’s place, and despite the super creepy librarian fantasy confession and your constant need to make fucked up comments at my expense, I don’t dislike you. In fact, I think you might be kinda okay. More than okay even. You may sorta be amazing.”

              Mikasa’s surprised look slowly eased to a smile, something Annie had rarely seen the girl do. “And?” she asked teasingly, apparently wanting to hear more about how amazing she was.

              A rush of affection washed over Annie as she realized she’d fallen for Mikasa so slowly, she hadn’t even noticed it happening until it was too late. Loving her was as natural and inescapable as the coming and passing of time.

             “And I may kinda be into you, too.”

             “Took you long enough,” Mikasa chuckled, resting here forehead against Annie’s. Annie scoffed.

            “Hey, for all I knew your feelings may have been temporary. Just a bizarre, oddly kinky crush, you know?”

            “Guess not. It appears I’m completely and utterly screwed.”

* * *

 

            Krista sat on the bed, facing Ymir, trying to work up the nerves for what she was about to do.

            Looking up at the girl sitting across from her, she studied Ymir, taking in every detail she could- from the freckles that dotted her cheeks, to the curve of her waist. She wanted them. She wanted them all, but traitorous thoughts seeped into her mind, taking the smallest fear and feeding it until it grew into monstrous self-doubt.

            If Ymir said no, if against what everyone said and Krista thought, there really was no interest there, just a shy girl who admired her, then who would be the next person to kiss Ymir? Who would be the person to sleep beside her, to hold her, to walk with her hand in hand, to say goodnight to her at the fall of each day? Who would take Krista’s place?

            But Ymir let her kiss her. Not only that, she had a complete spaz-fest after it happened, emitting the kind of giggles Krista had only witnessed previously coming from little kids on Christmas morning.

            She clung to that belief, that small glimmer of hope that told her everything would be okay. Even better than okay, perhaps.

            Either way, no matter the result, she would never regret this love she felt.

            “Ymir?” The name was spoken in little above a whisper. It was enough to wake the other girl from her thoughts. Ymir’s head snapped up and she stared wide-eyed at Krista.

            “Uh, y-yes?” she stuttered. Krista noted the way the girl nervously played with the sheets, tugging the cloth between her fingertips. It was something she often did when anxious.

            “About earlier,” she cleared her throat, “were you okay with that?”

            Ymir stared at her blankly, unsure what exactly Krista was talking about. “Er, which part? If you’re talking about the bet, my friends are jerks and I hope they freeze their asses off on Hoth, and that there are no tauntauns nearby for them to eviscerate and crawl inside of.”

            “Wait, what?” Krista questioned, terribly confused.

            “Star Wars? No? Alrighty, then…”

            “Not the bet, the other part,” Krista specified.

            “Oh, the part where Annie spewed all over her phone? That was my favorite part,” Ymir laughed.

            “You told them about how I kissed you.”

            The laughter died.

            “Uh,” Ymir’s mouth opened and closed several times, reminding Krista of the goldfish she’d received for her eighth birthday. Slowly, Ymir nodded her head, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah, yeah I did.”

            “Why?” Krista waited patiently for Ymir to find her words.

            “Well, you see-”

            As if it was planned, Ymir’s explanation was interrupted by a muffled song coming from her pocket.

            “I want a Hentai girl for me to make me happy,” the guy’s voice sang out. For a moment, Ymir stared at Krista in shock. It was like the she’d completely frozen up and was otherwise unable to move. “I want her so I can stop using my hand, every single day, while watching anime.” Ymir let out a strangled yelp before her hands clumsily attempted to reach into her pocket. She was so anxious and desperate to reach her phone, that she was completely fumbling, unable to grab it.

            Eventually, she pulled out the blasted contraption just as it finished singing, “I'd pull her from my screen just like in my dreams. I want feel her touch, mainly on my crotch.”

            Krista took the phone from Ymir’s hand, swiped against the screen, and answered the call.

            “Hello? Eren?” Her eyes flicked up to Ymir’s. “I’m busy with Ymir right now. Mind if I have her call you back? Cool.” She hung up the phone, unwilling to have yet another moment stolen from her. Since the day she first walked into Ymir’s life, it seemed they were constantly being interrupted during every potentially important moment they were about to share. To make sure it didn’t happen yet again, Krista held down on the power button until the screen went black. She then set the phone next to her.

            “Ymir?”

            “I swear I have no idea where the hell that song came from.”

            “Ymir,” Krista’s voice became a little shorter, hoping to end one of Ymir’s infamous rambles before it began. They were adorable, of course, but she had something she needed to get out right now.

            “I don’t even know what hentai is! Okay, that was a lie. I know what it is, but it’s not like I sit around watching it all the time,” Ymir gestured erratically as she explained. “Not that I have any problems with those who are into it. It’s just not really my kinda thing and what if Gran walked in? Er, not that that’s the only reason I haven’t checked it out or anything.”

            “Ymir!”

            Ymir’s mouth snapped shut. “Uh, yeah?”

            “Can I take you to a movie?” Krista blurted out the question, trying her best to keep her voice steady. She’d been so eager to get the damn question out before yet another thing distracted them.

            “A, uh, a movie?” Ymir repeated, dumbfounded.

            “Er, or we could go for a coffee or something, if you’d prefer it,” Krista stumbled over her thoughts.

            “Right now? That may not be a good idea,” Ymir mused, oblivious as ever. “I mean, coffee stunts your growth and stuff. I don’t think you need any more help in that department.”

            Krista sighed, burying her face in her hands. She took a steadying breath, then ran her fingers back through her hair.

            “Look, I honestly don’t really care what exactly we do. I just picked movie and coffee because those are the classic date scenarios.

            “Cl-classic date?” Ymir asked. Krista nodded.

            “Like in the movies when the main dude sees the cute manic pixie goddess, and asks her if she wants to hit up the café next door with him,” Krista attempted to explain. She gulped, and decided to just be as blunt as possible. Anything else would simply confuse Ymir, and nothing would be resolved. “Look, I’m really just trying to drive in the point that I want to go out with you. I want to be with you. I want to kiss you whenever I want, and I want to feel you kiss me, just because you felt like doing it. I want to be able to flirt with you at school, I want to stare at you all longingly from across the school quad, and I want to feel your arms around me while we just sit around together, being lazy. I want to have a valid reason for feeling so insanely jealous whenever I catch someone staring at you, because yes, they do stare, and I want to watch your crappy, nerdy videos and pretend to love them just because I love watching how excited you get. I want to be introduced to Gran as your girlfriend, and I want to be teased relentlessly by our friends and pretend to hate it, when in reality I’ll love every damn second of it. I want to be your first-”

            “Wait, what?” Ymir choked out, her face completely flushed.

            “-Girlfriend. Your first girlfriend… although, eventually, yeah. That too, when the time comes for it.” Krista paused, biting her lip and letting that sink in. She grabbed Ymir’s shaking hand, her fingers delicately sliding along the lines of Ymir’s palm. “I want to be your first of a lot of things, but before any of that, I’d like to take you on your first date… just, before you answer anything or decide if you’re okay with us being more, just let me take you on one date. Let me show you how serious I really am about this,” Krista urged. “Is that okay with you?”

            Ymir opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Instead, she closed her eyes and nodded. “Was- uh, was there anything else you wanted?” The pink tinge of her blush spread to the tips of her ears.

            “I’d like you to finish that bedtime story,” Krista whispered, and Ymir’s stare finally met Krista’s eyes. “I want to know what became of the princess and the frog.”

            “Okay,” Ymir muttered after a long pause, and Krista couldn’t help but press her lips to the girl’s cheek, delighted in the warmth she felt there. “I thought I-” the rest of what she was saying was mumbled, rendering it completely incomprehensible.

            “What was that?”

            “I thought I was supposed to do the rambling thing,” Ymir said, a little louder than before. Krista raised an arced eyebrow, pretending to be unamused by the girl’s observation, eliciting a sharp, nervous cackle from Ymir.

            “Excuse me, I was being romantic,” she huffed.

            “If you say so.”

            Krista crossed her arms across her chest, turned so she wasn’t facing Ymir, and pouted. “No kiss for you then,” she decided, waiting for Ymir’s cry of outrage.

            It never came.

            Instead, Krista was surprised to find the girl’s toned, tan arms gently, yet firmly wrapping around her waist, embracing her. Krista’s breath caught in her throat as Ymir rested her forehead against her shoulder.

            “Ymir?” Krista called out, a nervous giggle escaping her lips. “Uh, are you okay?” She felt Ymir’s breath tickle her skin, and couldn’t help the shiver that rolled down her spin.

            “Is this real?” Ymir’s voice was so small, yet so hopeful.

            She closed her eyes, and leaned back, unable to remember a time she’d ever felt more content.

            “Yeah… yeah it is.”


	14. Selina Kyle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, it’s Grimsley. Sorry for the long wait. I was just kinda feeling bleh and it’s difficult to write when feeling bleh sometimes… unless you’re writing about bleh things, in which case it’s great. I was not; however, writing bleh things, so the bleh feels didn’t help. Luckily, I’m no longer feeling bleh, but if some of the bleh seeped its way into the story, sorry. Fuck the blehs. Fuck them all.
> 
> Any who, big thanks to everyone who read, favorited, followed, and reviewed. Some of those reviews were so insanely sweet. Like, put a smile on my face and helped me stick the middle finger to the blehs right in the face. It was fucking awesome, and extremely appreciated. I’d love to PM you all, telling you how fucking fantastic you are, but, again, I tend to get super socially awkward and my brain pretty much ends up convincing me that I’ll just end up being a bit of a nuisance to you. If I have messaged you or reviewed something you wrote, know it took extreme inner strength on my part, and I probably died a little in the process.
> 
> Yeah. That’s how bad it is. Moving on…
> 
> So, if you follow my Tumblr, you may have seen that my laptop was on the bend for some time there. Luckily I have a super savvy girlfriend who was able to fix it with her badass girlfriending skills. Round of applause for le girlfriend. 
> 
> Anyways, after this chapter, there should be three chapters left. I know, sad feels. It’s kinda scary to be honest. I really hope you guys are as interested in my future stories to come. I really love the characters in this AU, so I’ll most likely write a couple one-shots that correlate to this story, so fear not. You will not see the last of them. I’ve grown far too attached. 
> 
> That being said, I’m currently working on writing up summaries for at least a dozen different long story ideas I have. The problem is, I have no idea which story I want to work on next, because I’m excited for all of them, so I’m leaving that up to you guys. Yep, I’ll be posting story ideas either on here in an author’s note, or on my Tumblr when I next update so you guys can vote on what you’d like to see next. That being said, if you guys have any ideas for a long fic you’d like to see me write, let me know so I can get them in before next update. Also, do you guys prefer longer chapters like in this fic (Generally 5,000 to 10,000 words), or shorter, more frequent chapters (Probably closer to 1,500 words)? Should it be YumiKuri? Mikannie? MikaSasha (I prefer saying Mikasha because it’s just really fun to say)? Some other pairing? 
> 
> Hmm, what else did I want to say before we start this thing? I know there was something else, but I can’t remember what it was. Well, shit. Oh well. If I remember, I’ll add it in at the end.
> 
> You guys are the best, and I hope you like the chapter. See you all next time.

**Chapter 14: Selina Kyle**

* * *

 

Just when it seemed Ymir's romantic life was beginning to fall into place, the universe decided to drop kick her in the lady bits. As much as she hated to admit it, she’d practically turned into one of those doe-eyed female love interests in Eren’s bizarrely addicting teen rom-coms. She found herself giddy whenever she merely thought of the way Krista asked her out, and had been trying to figure out the perfect outfit to wear for the date. She didn’t want to show up way too casual, looking like a total dating novice, but she also didn’t want to over-dress, only to come off looking like a total putz either.

            In the end, all the worrying had been for naught.

Ymir woke in the dead of night, feeling like someone was hammering a nail into her fucking skull.

            Whimpering, she curled into herself, her blankets slipping from her bed before falling onto the floor. Her body was coated in a thin layer of perspiration as she desperately kicked at the dry sheets her sweat-slick legs were tangled in. The immense pressure in her head left her feeling like she was about to throw up at any moment. No matter what Ymir did, she couldn’t get comfortable, and had to hold back the urge to cry, knowing that would only add to her problems.

            She could smell her shampoo on her pillow, and the scent was making her stomach turn.

            Ymir grabbed her phone, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Mikasa was awake. She didn’t want to be alone right now. She hit the power button, and instantly regretted it.

            The blue light hit her eyes and she reeled back, a sharp stinging pain pulsating through her head. She let out a strangled, broken cry, cursing her own incompetence. She blamed the pain for her sudden stupidity and gave herself a few brief moments before blinking her eyes back open.

            Texting her friend was out of the question.

            Ymir simultaneously felt like her back was about to split in two and like the pressure in her skull was building up in an attempt to escape. She buried her face in her hands, not surprised at all by the wetness she found there.

            Taking a steadying breath, she wiped her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position before easing herself to her feet, knowing that getting up too fast would only result in more pain. Ymir stumbled across her room, groaning when she stubbed her toe against her bookshelf. After calling the shelf a whore, she slid her hand along the wall, guiding her way to her desk. She blindly groped around, most likely knocking over everything that had been on it, stopping only when she found a familiar, cold, plastic figure.

            Ymir and Mikasa had been best friends as long as Ymir could remember, so it was hard to imagine a time when she hadn’t been by her side, mumbling muffled, smartass remarks. They were constantly at each other’s’ house and spent the majority of their time together while growing up.

            Yet apparently that hadn’t been enough, because in fifth grade Mikasa’s mother, Carla, bought the girls a pair of walkie talkies which they used well into their final year of middle school. Still, it had been quite a while since they last used them. Hell, Ymir wasn’t even certain Mikasa still had hers.

            Still, it was worth a try.

            Ymir pressed down on the button at the figure’s hip and tried not to think about the fact that she had a pink power ranger radio pressed against her face. Whoever designed the thing didn’t seem to put much thought into its layout. Mikasa and Ymir discovered long ago that, when using them, it pretty much just looked like they were muttering into the crotch of their favorite action heroes.

“Mi-Mikasa?” she called out quietly, her voice cracking. She whispered her friend’s name, but the silence in the room made her voice seem far louder than it truly was. “Mikasa?” she tried again, a little louder this time. There was no answer.

She was probably fast asleep.

            Sighing, Ymir carefully made her way to the door and slipped out of the room. She padded down the hallways, her head spinning, relying on memory to make her way to the restroom. Once inside, she laid down on the cool, tile floor and did her best to focus on the steady dripping of the leaky faucet.

            The coldness from the floor pressed against her overheating skin, bringing with it slight relief, and she did her best to push all thoughts from her mind, focusing only on the incessantly falling water droplets. The steady stream and the consistency of it eased her mind and the intense pain slowly eased to a dull ache, but Ymir knew at any moment the grace period could be over and the pain would return, attacking her just as, or possibly even more, violently than before.

            Ymir didn’t move when the door slowly opened and someone stepped in. Whomever it was gently sat down next to her, not saying a word.

            The silence gave her away.

            “Mikasa?” Ymir croaked. She felt tears threaten to spill from the corner of her eyes. She knew it was pathetic, absolutely immature, and beyond embarrassing in all ways, but she didn’t want to be alone. She wanted someone she trusted and whom she felt safe with.

            “I think the volume on your end was off,” came the soft, scarf-muffled whisper. “Migraine again?” Mikasa asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

            “Yeah.” Her response came out sounding more pitiful than she had intended. There was a sharp intake of breath before Mikasa let out a long, steady sigh.

            “It’s been awhile since your last one.”

            She was right. While Ymir was used to being plagued by migraines, it truly had been a little over a year since her last one. She naively thought, well, hoped that she’d no longer suffer them. That maybe, just maybe, the universe was throwing her a bone. Apparently she was wrong.

            The pain started back when she was in middle school, completely debilitating her and pretty much convincing her she was dying. Mikasa had been sleeping over when the first one hit. After staying through it, doing anything she could to help her friend, Mikasa made sure to be there for the second, and the eventual third.

            Mikasa came every time.

* * *

 

            After half an hour passed by of sitting beside her in silence, Mikasa managed to convince Ymir to take Advil and return to her bedroom. She helped ease her best friend onto the bed, picking the blanket up from the floor and tossing it onto the foot of the bed, knowing the heat from it wouldn’t help at all.

            “Mikasa?” Ymir’s weak voice called out.

            “Hmm?”

            “Could you, er, could you do the thing?” she asked shyly. Mikasa chuckled

            Over the years Mikasa had tried many things to relieve her friend’s pain. They never spoke it, but the two truly cared for each other in a way words could never express, and it killed her to see her friend in such pain. She’d tried rubbing Ymir’s back and playing with her hair in the past, but neither ever worked, only succeeding in irritating the migraine even more. Somehow, by a bizarre stroke of luck, they’d discovered that the only thing that calmed the pain was for Mikasa to draw on Ymir’s back. Something about the gentle pen strokes and never quite knowing what would come next alleviated the pressure, allowing her body to relax.

            Of course this would usually end up biting Ymir in the ass, as most things had a tendency to do. Mikasa, though an incredibly skilled artist, had a propensity to often draw inappropriate things. This usually wouldn’t be much of a problem, but it’d happened on more than one occasion that Ymir would be changing in the school locker room, completely having forgotten about the drawings on her back, only to hear giggling from behind her, or, even worse, the occasional shrieking and blushing freshman, flustered and gaping at her.

            Mikasa had told her on multiple occasions that she was very happy she shared P.E. with Ymir so she could see all the reactions. It may have been a little twisted, but she adored seeing her friend completely and utterly embarrassed.

            “Fine,” Mikasa whispered. “Take off your shirt and let me have my way with you.”

            Ymir complied immediately, slipping the shirt off, leaving her in only her black sports bra. Mikasa frowned. For her friend to simply obey such a request without making any kind of smartass remark… she must’ve truly been in a lot of pain.

            Mikasa pulled a pen out of her pocket, she almost always had at least one on her, and laid down beside her friend, working by the steadily brightening morning light that peeked through the window blinds above Ymir’s bed. A content sigh escaped from her satisfied friend as Mikasa worked, smirking deviously as she sketched.

            The light that filled the room strengthened as the minutes passed by. Ymir groaned and buried her face in her pillow.

            “Ugh, what time is it?” Ymir eventually asked, her voice muffled by the cushion. Mikasa pulled her phone out of her pocket, careful to not shine the screen anywhere near her friend.

            “A little after six.”

            Ymir groaned and grabbed her shirt before slipping it back on. She began to get up, still clutching her head gently.

            “What’re you doing?” Mikasa demanded an answer, attempting to push her friend back down. There was no way Ymir was feeling well enough to get up now, and Mikasa would be damned if she’d allow her friend to torture herself just because she didn’t want to miss a single day of school.

            “School,” Ymir grumbled, struggling weakly to swat her friend away. She was unsuccessful. “I have to go. There’s a- a test and-”

            “No way in hell,” Mikasa interrupted. “You’re keeping your freckled ass in this bed, even if I have to strap you down myself.”

            “Kinky,” Ymir muttered. “And I don’t have freckles on my ass.”

            “Ymir, I’ve seen your ass. On many occasions, in fact. I care to disagree.”

            “Pervert, “Ymir mumbled, turning over onto her back. She bit her bottom lip, something Mikasa noticed Ymir often did when she had something she wanted to say, but wasn’t sure how to go about saying it.

            “What is it?” Mikasa sighed. She was insanely tired and was in no mood to deal with an annoyingly stubborn Ymir right now.

            “I have to go to school today,” Ymir croaked, as if that explained everything. Mikasa raised an eyebrow, waiting for her friend to continue. Eventually, Ymir got the hint. “I-I have a date,” she blurted, looking away from Mikasa as the tips of her ears and cheeks turned pink. “With Krista.”

            “One of these days you’re gonna be able to talk about Krista without turning all sorts of red.”

            “Fat chance.” Ymir sat up, eyeing her Converse. “Have you seen her? She looks at me and my stomach rumbles like a Nintendo 64 controller with a rumble pack. She talks to me and my heart starts racing so fast it fucking hurts, like that summer when we pretty much lived off coffee. She touches me and my brain goes completely blank life, er, like…” She struggled to come up with an example.

            “Ymir, you’re brain always going blank. You’re doing it right now.”

            “Thanks.”

            “Any time.” Mikasa smirked. “Now get back in bed.”

            “But I just told you-”

            “I said no,” Mikasa stated, ending the discussion. “You’re obviously not better yet, and even if you were, you’re gonna be completely drained for a while. You need sleep, and going to school like this is just gonna make you feel like crap. Even in Call of Duty, when you get all shot up and injured, or fall from a really high spot, your character has to rest for a while before moving on, right?”

“You make a valid point,” Ymir confessed. Mikasa shook her head, surprised she hadn’t thought to compare the situation to a video game from the beginning. It was the only way to really make a point come across with her.

“Do you want to get another migraine at school?”

            “Hey, the last time didn’t end up so bad, remember?”

            “Yeah, yeah, I remember. It’s all you talked about for a week straight,” Mikasa sighed, recalling Ymir’s weeklong obsession with some random girl she’d never even seen. “But still, the being sick part sucked. You nearly puked in math class.”

            “I was sitting behind Eren. It would’ve at least been amusing. I mean, just imagine the face he would have made.”

            “True, but you’re still staying.”

            “But my date.” Ymir’s shoulders sagged. “Mikasa, I don’t want to fuck this up. Not again,” Ymir admitted, unable to meet Mikasa’s eyes. “I’ve already done enough of that for a lifetime. I need to make my way into Krista’s heart before she wises up and realizes just how lame I am.”

            “Dude, this is Krista we’re talking about. She’ll understand,” Mikasa pointed out, patting her friend’s arm. “And she totally already knows how lame you are. Anyways, if you try and leave again, I’m telling Krista all about that time you peed yourself in front of the entire class.”

            “That was in first grade!”

            “I’ll leave that bit of information out,” Mikasa mused, smirking.

            “You’re kinda evil.”

            “Damn straight,” she nodded before standing and slipping her pen back into her pocket.

            Before she left, Mikasa grabbed the bottle of Advil she’d brought over and left it on the nightstand beside Ymir’s bed, along with a glass of water. She grabbed the blanket still bunched up at Ymir’s feet and draped it over her sleepy friend.

            “If you need anything, just text me. I’ll pick it up for you and bring it after school, okay?”

            “Yeah,” Ymir croaked. “Uh, Mikasa?”

            “Yeah?” Mikasa replied, looking over the room once more, making sure she didn’t forget anything.

            “Uh, thanks.” Ymir was staring down at the blankets, unable to make eye contact. “You know, for everything.”

            Mikasa’s chest swelled with affection. She’d never state it, but she was totally, completely, and utterly in platonic love with her friend. Instead, she smiled, grabbing her scarf and wrapping it back around her neck.

            “Anytime, you massive pain in my ass.”

* * *

 

            Krista warily approached the table. Eren and Armin sat on one side, watching the display before them with a mix of both confusion and terror.

            Mikasa lay splayed against the table, groaning loudly as Annie gently rubbed her back. Krista stopped in her tracks, before slowly and carefully sitting at the edge of the bench. She leaned in towards Eren and Armin, speaking out of the corner of her mouth in a hushed voice.

            “Is Annie actually being nice to Mikasa?”

            “I-I think so?” Eren uttered, his voice wavering. “Think we should be worried?”

            “I think so. Maybe she’s trying to lull her into a false sense of security before attacking? That’s the only theory that’s making any sense to me,” Armin voiced.

            “Hey, I can hear you guys,” Annie grunted, jostling Mikasa who groaned. She groggily sat up, her sleep-heavy eyes trained on Krista. She looked as though she had something important to say, but couldn’t quite gather the energy to allow her mouth to move.

            A few silent moments passed by when Krista found herself watching the main gates of the school, waiting for Ymir to come lumbering in. The thought of seeing her, especially now that she laid all her feelings out, made her stomach flip, and though she was nervous, she honestly wanted nothing more.

            “She’s not coming,” Mikasa murmured, stealing Krista’s attention.

            “Wait, what?” She felt a horrible sinking feeling take over her body. Was the idea of going on a date with her so unappealing that Ymir would stay home in an effort to get out of it? It made no sense, and she knew that, but the thought still ate at her.

            “She gets horrible migraines sometimes,” Mikasa explained, a knowing look in her eyes, and shrugged. Krista had noticed, almost immediately after meeting Mikasa, that the girl had an eerie ability to tell what a person was thinking, simply by staring them down, and had somehow caught on to Krista’s own nonsensical self-doubt. “Hence me looking like a fucking zombie right now.” Mikasa waved a hand up and down her body. “I was over at Ymir’s most of the night, trying to help. She really wanted to come today, seemed pretty desperate actually, but I couldn’t let her. Practically had to pin her ass to the bed, in a platonic way, mind you. I’m not encroaching on what you’ve already claimed.” Mikasa smirked. “She was just feeling like complete crap; you know? It got really bad, and she’s exactly the type of idiot to push it too far and end up making the entire situation a hundred times worse.”

            Krista probably should have felt relieved, knowing that her bizarre thoughts earlier were merely her overthinking the situation, but the knowledge that Ymir had been in such pain disallowed her from doing so. She had to fight the urge to leave school and rush over to Ymir’s immediately.

            “Well, was she alright when you left?” Krista asked, doing her best not to sound too anxious, but failing miserably. If Ymir was currently feeling as wretched as Mikasa made it sound, then school be damned, she wanted to be with her. Fuck the test she had next period in English. Screw her perfect attendance record. She didn’t give a shit who saw her leave, or what her parents would say. Ymir was more important.

            “Eh, she was still pretty miserable, but managed to fall asleep,” Mikasa recalled. “She generally feels a bit better when she wakes up, but having one of these fuckers totally knocks her out. They sap her of all her energy, leaving her completely drained, so she’ll probably be completely out of it for awhile.”

            Knowing Ymir would hopefully be feeling better upon waking helped calm Krista’s overprotective nerves, quelling her desire to rush to the sick girl’s side. Instead, disappointment sunk in, gnawing at her heart.

Why was it that something seemingly popped up every time she made any sort of headway towards a relationship with Ymir? Was fate trying to be a bitch? Were the cosmic forces getting a good laugh at her? She’d been planning this day, this date, nonstop since Ymir said yes. It’d taken everything she had to ask in the first place, and the idea that what progress they made may disappear because of this made Krista feel sick.

            “I was planning on checking on her when school’s finished.” Mikasa’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. “Make sure she’s not dead and what not.”

            “Raincheck on our plans then?” Annie asked Mikasa, earning herself a couple curious glances from the boys. Mikasa shook her head apologetically.

            “Sorry, maybe after?”

            “Wait, you two have plans?” Eren blurted out. “As in, willingly hanging out with each other?” His eyes narrowed as he looked between the two girls. “Mikasa, blink twice if you’re doing this against your will.”

            Eren was too slow to dodge the muffin Annie pelted at his head.

* * *

 

            Krista juggled the bags as she made her way up the staircase and down the hallway. She’d passed by Mikasa who was on her way out. The girl had informed her that Ymir was still asleep and Gran had been checking up on her throughout the day, making sure she was doing alright.

She didn’t bother to knock on the door, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl. She gently set everything on the ground and turned the handle, before slowly peeking into Ymir’s room.

            The window blinds remained closed, refusing to allow a single ray of light to assault the sleeping girl. An instant chill warned Krista that Ymir’s fan was on, keeping the temperature in the room nice and cool. Though the lights were off, Krista was still able to make out Ymir’s sleeping form snuggled in her blankets.

Messy, brown hair was splayed over Ymir’s pillow, her tanned arm hugging another cushion close to her, and her body curled around it. Krista had to push down the slight fire in the pit of her stomach.

            **_Am I seriously jealous of a damn pillow?_**

            Yes, yes she was.

            She grabbed the bags and brought them into the room, setting them on the desk, before gently sitting down on the edge of Ymir’s bed. Ymir’s brow furrowed as the bed dipped under Krista’s weight and she reached out a hand, gently prodding Krista’s leg.

            “Mikasa?” Ymir croaked, her eyes still closed. “My throat is killing me. Like, hardcore Boromir getting brutally shish-kabobed by that uruk-hai warrior kinda killing me. Darth Vader getting fly-zapped by good ole’ General Palpatine killing me. Like in A.O.T when your main character’s mom becomes breakfast. That kinda killing me.” She cleared her dry throat. “So, you know, do you think you could hand me my water?”

            Krista grabbed the cup on the bedside table, but quickly discovered it was empty. She ran over to her bag, grabbed her water bottle out of it, and returned to Ymir’s side, unscrewing the top and handing it to her.

            “Thanks,” Ymir grunted before taking a long sip. A trickle of water slipped from the corner of her mouth and slid down her neck. Krista licked her lips before clearing her throat.

            **_I will not perv on sick Ymir. I will not perv on sick Ymir._** She repeated the mantra multiple times.

            Apparently the sound was enough to clue Ymir in that the person sat beside her was not, in fact, Mikasa, and she peeked open a single, sleep-heavy eye.

“Krista?” Ymir asked. A lazy smile formed on her lips, and Krista knew, had she not already been in love with the adorable dork, she would have fallen in that moment. Ymir spoke her name with such gentleness, such fondness, that she felt her chest tighten ever so slightly. She’d give anything to hear it again.

“Hey there.” Krista smiled. “How’re you feeling?”

            Ymir eased herself into a sitting position, careful not to get up too quickly. “Like my head is in a total fog and I’ve been asleep for a week… kinda like how it gets when Armin tries to explain A.O.T battle strategies to me. Bro is seriously long-winded. I generally end up spacing out.”

            “No pain?”

            “Nope, none,” Ymir chirped, a smug smirk replacing her smile. The dopey girl was obviously very proud of herself.

            Krista hopped up from the bed, zipping over to the desk. She grabbed the bags before plopping them down in front of Ymir, failing to hide her excited grin. She expected questions or for Ymir to start going through the bags. Instead, Ymir just stared at her, watching her intently.

            “Ymir?” Krista asked, nervously rocking from one foot to the other. “Er, do I have something on me or-”

            “You look really pretty today,” Ymir decided, a very serious expression on her face. Krista grabbed the bottle she’d given Ymir earlier, sniffing the contents. “Er, Krista? What’re you doing?”

            “Making sure it’s just water.”

            Half-asleep Ymir stared at her, confused, before shrugging. She quickly became distracted by the bags in front of her, her eyes becoming comically wide as she realized what contents they hid within them.

            “Krista?”

            “I asked Mikasa, Sasha, Eren, and Armin about some of your favorite stuff… Movies, games, snacks, you get the gist,” Krista explained as Ymir pulled a bag of cool ranch Doritos out, before hugging them. “We couldn’t go out for our date, so I figured I’d bring the date to you.”

            Krista leaned forward onto her knees, pressing a kiss against Ymir’s warm cheek. Ymir spaced out for a second before offering her a lopsided grin.

            Sleepy, post-migraine Ymir was hands down the most adorable thing Krista had ever witnessed.

            “Oh, I also picked up your homework for you,” Krista added, nodding towards the desk where she’d left it. Ymir jumped off the bed, making her way towards the table.

            “Oh, wow! Thanks, Babe!” Ymir thanked her happily as she flipped through the papers, apparently not aware of what she’d just said.

            **_Babe?_**

Krista’s heart throbbed as she laid down on Ymir’s bed and stole one of Ymir’s pillows. She pressed her face against it, determined to not let the dopey, oddly-charming Ymir see her blush.

* * *

 

            All Ymir could do was stare at the water bottle cradled in her lap as the movie credits rolled.

            This was Krista’s water bottle. The same one she drank from every day. The same one Ymir had been sipping from for the past hour and a half. Her lips were touching where Krista’s had been touching. And even though they had, in fact, kissed before, the thought of it still made butterflies flit about in her stomach, despite the fact that her tummy was already a bundle of nerves.

            She was on a date. An actual date. With Krista, the girl who recreated, rebranded, and made sexiness her own. The girl who single-handedly turned half the school into whimpering, love-stuck idiots.

Sure, it wasn’t your stereotypical date. There was no going to a theater like they’d originally planned, and they hadn’t stopped at a nice place to eat afterwards, but Ymir didn’t mind in the least. In fact, she preferred it this way.

            Had they gone out, then Krista wouldn’t have currently been stretched out beside her, spacing out while staring at the now black screen. At some point during the movie, her shirt had inched up ever so slightly, revealing a line of pale skin. Despite her favorite movie being on, she was constantly finding her attention diverted to the gentle slope of the dip in Krista’s back.

Every time Krista moved, it set Ymir on edge, and every time she made a noise, Ymir jumped, startled. Perhaps it was all for the best that their date hadn’t been in public.

            It wasn’t like something like this whole situation hadn’t happened before. Krista had been in her room many times, and, on more than one occasion, they both found themselves laying on her bed together, watching movies.

            And yet something still felt different this time. There was an air of expectancy, and Ymir had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.

            “Ymir?”

            Ymir’s body involuntarily jerked, having been startled by Krista’s voice suddenly calling out to her. Krista, most likely used to Ymir’s bizarre antics, rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder, letting her know there was no reason to be so anxious.

            Only there was. There totally was. One extremely hot, devilishly good-looking reason.

            The words Krista spoke when she’d asked Ymir out had been running through her brain non-stop since they’d first been uttered. They took over her every single thought, and completely baffled her, and she found herself wishing she had a remote control, so she could turn back time and hear Krista’s little impromptu speech all over again. She’d been so taken aback, so surprised by it, that she completely missed what had been said.

            She wasn’t self-confident. She didn’t consider herself attractive in the least. Her acne was a massive problem, she had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was constantly a mess, and despite being a pretty smart person, she was startlingly dense when it came to romantic situations. For the longest time any thought that Krista might return her feelings was merely a pointless dream, one she’d never admit she clung to.

            So, was it really okay? Was it truly alright for Krista to want a person like her? Krista, the person whose laugh sent tingles up and down her spine. The person whom she’d seen nearly every day for the past few months, yet who still had the power to render her speechless with a small smile. The person she’d been watching for so long, but never expected to catch looking back.

            Krista’s soft hand pressing against her cheek pulled Ymir out of her thoughts. She looked concerned, her eyebrows knitted together as she stared attentively at her.

            “Are you alright?” She asked, eyes flitting over Ymir’s face. “It’s not back, is it? Do you need me to grab you something? Advil?” Ymir shook her head, denying the offer.

            “No, I’m fine, just a little lost in thought,” Ymir replied.

            “Oh, uhm, okay then.”

            The silence lasted for a couple minutes, growing in awkwardness the longer it went on. Ymir raked her brain for a topic, any topic, to fill the silence.

            “Um, so how’d you know that’s my favorite movie?” Ymir asked, gesturing back at the laptop.

            “Oh, er, I asked Mikasa. Everyone else helped, too. When I told them about the date, well, Sasha was very adamant about the chips,” Krista laughed. “Armin let me borrow a couple games as well, though videogames may not be the best idea at the moment. Before I knew it, we were kinda planning an at-home date.”

            “You… you planned all of this because my head decided to be a jerk and cancel our plans?”

            “I-I, uh,” Krista looked away, focusing her attention on the cap of her bottle of coke. “When I found out you were sick and our date was probably cancelled I, erm, I kinda got-” Krista didn’t finish.

            “Kinda got?”

            “Nervous, anxious, scared,” Krista blurted out. She sighed, biting her lip and doing her best not to look Ymir in the eye. “It’s just,” she stopped, searching for the right words to say. “I don’t want this thing between us to get fucked up before it even has a chance to start. There always seems to be some bullshit getting in the way, usually compliments of our meddlesome friends. Whenever we take a step forward, we almost immediately take three back, and I don’t want that this time. I don’t want any interrupting phone calls-”

            “I could turn it off if you want,” Ymir offered.

            “—or friends busting in at the worst possible moment-”

            “I swear I’m working on having Sasha sedated…”

            “I just- I really care about you. Like, really, really care about you. A whole lot of caring about you. Maybe even-” Krista glanced up at her, their eyes finally meeting. Krista’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Instead, she let out a frustrated sigh and shrugged. “You just matter a whole hell of a lot to me, and it pretty much took everything I had to ask you out the first time. Also, I think it needs to be said that you’re really, super adorable when you first wake up, and I really have a super strong urge to bitch slap migraines in the face right now because I’m being just as rambly as you, and that’s pretty fucking bad.”

            Ymir stared at Krista in silence, her brain completely blank. For a moment there, just a brief, flittering second in time, it seemed like Krista was about to say she loved her.

            Her stomach had twisted, turning in on itself, and she was startled to realize that she’d been afraid to hear it. Terrified even. It was something she’d wanted for a really long time, and never allowed herself to believe was possible, but now that it wasn’t said, now that the moment had passed by, Ymir realized the only thing scarier than Krista saying she loved her, was the moment when she hadn’t said it.

            Krista watched her expectantly, obviously hoping Ymir would say something, anything to put her at ease. The thought of telling Krista that she felt the same, that she cared about her in a way that she couldn’t quite put into words or understand, left her mouth dry and her heart pounding harder than ever before.

            “I, I’m really crappy at this whole saying nice stuff thing,” Ymir admitted. “I mean, you’ve heard my conversations with my Gran and friends. We don’t really do the whole telling each other we care about each other thing, because it’s just kinda an unspoken fact” Ymir attempted to explain. “But still, I think I might want to try, just this once.” Ymir licked her dry lips and took a deep, steadying breath, hoping it would calm the pounding of her wild heart. “I really like y-“

            A loud vibration made Ymir jump, and she turned and glared at her cell phone. She really needed to toss the fucker.

            After a long pause, she sighed and grabbed the phone, muttering curses under her breath as she accepted the call from an unknown number.

            “Hello?” she sighed, exasperated.

            “Hey, Ymir,” the woman’s voice tentatively greeted, and Ymir had to fight the urge to throw the phone on the ground and stomp on it until all that was left was dust. She really had a lot of nerve calling her, nerve which she obviously hadn’t passed down to her daughter. “Please don’t hang-up. I, uh, I have something I wanted to talk to you about.”

            She wasn’t sure how Krista knew she needed it, but the girl grabbed Ymir’s hand tight in her own. Ymir met Krista’s steady gaze, and the sweet smile she saw their put her raging emotions at ease. She squeezed Krista’s hand and nodded, ready to do what needed to be done.

            “Hey Mom.”

* * *

 

            Ymir had put on another movie once she finished the phone call with her mother, but it was obvious she wasn’t really watching it. Dazed eyes stared at the screen, but didn’t truly take in what they were seeing. She’d been off in her own world since the conversation ended, and neither one of them had said a thing.

            Krista watched from the corner of her eye as Ymir absentmindedly raised her soda to take a sip, missing her mouth completely. A stream of brown, bubbling liquid rushed down her cheek, along her neck, and down and all over her shirt.

            “Shit,” Ymir yelped, jumping up from the bed before any of her drink spilled onto her clean sheets as well. Ymir grabbed a towel from her laundry basket and used it to mop up the mess she’d made on herself.

            Krista hadn’t expected her to pull her shirt off, but she definitely appreciated the gesture.

            Sure, they changed in front of each other all the time in gym class, but there was an unspoken rule during P.E. that you didn’t stare at your fellow classmates as they stripped. Well, yeah, on a daily basis some girl would take her shirt off mid-conversation and go strutting around the locker rooms, and no one really seemed to care much about changing in front of each other all that much, but a casual glance and blatant staring were two very different things.

            Krista was definitely breaking that very important rule, but she couldn’t help it. Ymir was fucking hot, and this wasn’t the first time she’d gazed a little longer than she should have as the girl removed her clothes. Definitely not.

            Ymir seemed to realize what she’d done, and in front of whom, because she let out a strangled squeaking noise before turning around, hiding her front from Krista. “I’m sorry!”

            “Uh, it’s… er, it’s okay,” Krista stammered, staring at her shoes. After a moment she raised her gaze back up, catching a glance at Ymir’s back as the girl searched for a clean shirt.

Krista’s hand shot to her mouth, having to hold back the laughter which fought to come out. “Uhm, Ymir?” She uttered when she was finally able to regain her breath.

            “Hmm?”

            “Why is there a half-naked chick drawn on your back? I mean the art’s really good and all, but-” Ymir whipped around so quickly, Krista was unable to finish her thought.

            “What?” Ymir choked, having completely forgotten that she was standing half-dressed in front of Krista. She bolted over to her mirror, attempting to catch a glimpse at the sketch.

            Krista narrowed her eyes as she stared at the drawing. There was something eerily familiar about it.

            “Oh my God!” Krista squealed as realization hit her. “Is that supposed to be Annie?”

            All the color drained from Ymir’s face.

            “I’m going to fucking kill Mikasa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, obviously I missed you too much and had to speak to you one last time before the next update. What’s that? You missed me, too? Fear not, I already knew that, sweet star child.
> 
> Anyways… I just felt inclined to point out that the thing that Mikasa does for Ymir to get rid of Ymir’s migraine is something I do for my girlfriend (and yes, sometimes I draw things she’d probably prefer I didn’t, though I’ve never drawn naked peoples on her before. Next time). It’s the only thing that really seems to calm her down enough to get her to sleep, and usually after she sleeps the pain ceases. Not always, but usually. That being said, I’ve gotten migraines on rare occasion, too (usually brought on by very strong perfume) and this doesn’t work on me. In fact, I pretty much refuse to be touched when having one. 
> 
> So, yeah. If you were reading this and you were all, “hell no, no touchey!” that’s what was going on. Writing from experience, you know?  
> Any who, much love to you all. I’ll catch you next time.


End file.
